The Trouble With Summer Camp
by iColor With Crayons
Summary: Stucky AU. Bucky is a camper. Steve is a counselor. They're both embarrassing idiots. The perfect combination of teenaged angst and Stucky moments.
1. Chapter 1

**Day One**

"Okay, campers. Gather your belongings and exit the bus in an orderly line. Find the check-in line with your file and wait for your cabin assignment."

Bucky felt like he was going to throw up. He was here. He was finally here.

His parents had found out that he was attracted to other boys after an unfortunate text mix-up and, instead of accepting him for who he was, they had immediately enrolled Bucky in a summer camp that would "cure" him. Bucky was dreading the moment that he found out how they were going to cure him and now he was here.

As he was shepherded off of the bus, Bucky trembled violently. He looked around and saw the rest of the "campers" looked equally terrified. Only the counselors looked perfectly at ease. It was shocking, really, that these teenaged kids willingly took jobs that were based entirely off of hate. He stumbled over to the "A-D" table, reluctant to speak to the counselor sitting behind it.

"Hi. Name, please." The counselor prompted in a surprising British accent.

"Oh, uh, Bucky. Well, James. Barnes. James Barnes." Bucky stammered. His trembling grew somehow worse.

"Barnes, Barnes, Barnes…" The counselor murmured as she sifted through the crate of files in front of her. "Ah. Here you are. Is there a name that you would prefer to go by?"

"Uh, yeah. I go by Bucky."

"Okay, Bucky." The girl smiled brightly. Bucky did not notice. He was preoccupied with struggling to avoid vomiting. "What - if any - gender do you identify as?"

"Excuse me?" Bucky was sure that he had misheard her.

"Well, we don't want to place you in a cabin that you're uncomfortable with." The counselor explained as though it was perfectly obvious.

"Is this a trick?" Bucky asked suspiciously. The counselor's smile did not falter.

"Not at all. We want to make sure that you're comfortable at all times. I can see that Sam hasn't told you very much about SHIELD on the bus ride. We'll do that later. Gender, please?"

"Male." Bucky stammered.

"Alright," The counselor scribbled down his answer before turning around to look at the counselor that had been on the bus. "Hey, Sam! Do you have room for one more in your cabin?"

The counselor - Sam - nodded. "I've got a few beds left. Is that the guy?"

"Yep. Sending him over!" She called back. She turned to Bucky. "Here's your file. Take it over to Sam - he's going to be your counselor."

Bucky managed to nod before staggering over to Sam stupidly. He had no idea what was going on at the camp anymore. Sam quickly rectified the situation by explaining the true nature of the camp.

SHIELD was advertised as a "correctional" facility but actually served as a safe haven for members of the LGBTQA alliance for the duration of the camp session. The counselors were former campers who had no safe home to return to - they were either kicked out or faced a dangerous home situation - and were there to help the campers in any way possible. By the end of Sam's explanation, Bucky was trembling for a whole new reason.

Relief washed over him and threatened to drown him. It was all he could do to wander over to the cabin that Sam had pointed out. He attempted to unpack with shaking heads and a stupid smile.

* * *

"Who's _that_?" Steve nodded towards the camper standing at Peggy's table.

The camper was clearly terrified - Sam always forgot to assure the campers that they were safe - but even in his current state, he was enough to distract Steve from sorting through misplaced luggage.

"A camper," His friend, Natasha, reminded him. "Off limits."

"Not officially." Steve protested.

"No, but Coulson did say that it was discouraged."

"Peggy is dating Angie."

Nat rolled her eyes. "If you're planning to use a camper to make Peggy jealous, you're even dumber than I thought."

"No, _no_." Steve murmured, shaking his head and clearing his throat. "It's been months. I've come to terms with it. I just thought...I don't know, he's good-looking."

"'Good-looking'?" Nat echoed, her mouth curling into a smile that Steve knew all too well. She was going to make fun of him. "Talk like that and the poor kid will think you're ninety-five. If you think he's hot, why don't you just go over there and talk to him?"

"I can't just _talk_ to him." Steve protested, shifting on his feet awkwardly.

"Talk to who?" Oh, great. Tony had heard.

Tony Stark came to camp every single year. It wasn't that his father refused to accept who he was or who he did, the kid just liked the place. Since he couldn't become a counselor - that privilege was reserved for those who genuinely needed to leave their homes - he just appeared every single summer.

"Stark. Why am I not surprised that you're here?" Steve sighed.

"Aw, come on. You didn't think that I'd let you spend the whole summer wallowing over Peggy, did you?"

Nat snickered. Steve shot her a severe look.

"Nobody is wallowing." He asserted.

"I can see that now." Tony agreed. "You're already scoping out this year's talent. Who was it that you were looking at? It was a _him_ , if my ears served correctly. Was it…" Tony laid eyes on the tall, dark, and handsome camper that Steve had been unable to avoid staring at. "Oh. He is something, isn't he?"

"Go away, Tony."

"Fine," Tony huffed in that overly dramatic tone that only he could manage. "I can see that I'm not wanted here. I'll just go to my cabin - oh, and look at that. Sam's cabin. Your boyfriend and I are cabin-mates. How quaint. Maybe we'll have a nice slumber party and talk about boys."

"Wait." Steve sighed, regret burning the tip of his tongue. Nat looked at him in surprise.

"Ye-es?" Tony questioned with a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Do you think you could...you know...be cool about this? I don't know him yet, but I don't want you ruining whatever might happen. Could you just introduce us or something?" Steve didn't exactly know what he wanted from the introduction, but it couldn't hurt to know the kid's name.

"Of course. If you do something for me." Tony replied.

"Oh, god." Nat murmured, knowing enough about Tony to expect the worst.

"What?" Steve asked.

"Carry my stuff to the cabin. I've brought a bunch of different prototypes and tools and they can be pretty heavy. That guy'll probably be in the cabin unpacking his own stuff and then you can meet him for yourself." Tony replied, nodding down to the pile of bags lying at his feet.

"And you won't embarrass me?" Steve clarified.

"I think you'll probably do that all by yourself." Tony replied.

Steve scowled before ducking down and picking up the bags. "Let's go."

Tony led the way to Sam's cabin for the summer. Steve followed after him, growing increasingly nervous. It was his first attempt at meeting someone since Peggy had broken up with him the day before Christmas. He had never been very good at flirting and now he had to worry about Tony intervening and ruining everything.

"Right here?" Steve asked uncertainly, asking an obvious question as a way of soothing his nerves. He wanted to be right just one more time before he stepped into an uncharted territory.

"Yeah," Tony replied carelessly as they entered the cabin. "You can just choose any bunk."

"Great," Steve said, his mouth suddenly feeling very dry. He struggled to avoid staring at the dark-haired boy who was unpacking his bags on the other side of the cabin. "And you have everything that you need, right? Clothes, food, water…" He couldn't help but look around the cabin. He locked eyes with the dark-haired boy and suddenly felt as though he was on fire.

"I think that I could use your clothes, if you'd be so kind as to take them off." Tony responded with a smirk. He waggled his eyebrows. Steve wanted nothing more than to kill him.

"Very funny, Tony." He snapped, his fists clenching in his pockets. "These are my clothes, but if you end up needing anything, you can just ask Sam."

"You're no fun." Tony warned Steve.

"I'm not here to be fun." Steve responded, struggling to smile. He needed to appear kind and friendly. He turned and afforded the dark-haired boy a watery smile. The boy stared back at him like he had lost his mind.

Things were not going well.

"Anyway," Steve murmured. "I've got to get the other campers settled. I've got my own cabin to worry about. I'll see you at dinner, guys."

He hadn't even been brave enough to ask the dark-haired boy his name.

"Looking forward to it." Tony called after him as Steve made his retreat.

Once out of the cabin, Steve hung his head and allowed himself to feel spectacularly stupid. He trudged over to the check-in tables to help clean up and was immediately met with a sympathetic smile from Peggy.

"I take it that your introduction did not go well." She said.

"How did you…" Steve turned around and saw Nat smirking at him. "Nat told you. Of course she did."

"We all just want you to be happy, Steve." Peggy reminded him lightly. He forced himself to smile back at her.

"I know."

"Bucky seems very nice. I'm sure that you'll get the chance to talk to him some other time."

"Bucky?" Steve echoed. "Is that his name?"

"You didn't know? Well, what on Earth did you say to him?"

"Nothing." Steve answered, shaking his head and smiling slightly. "I just carried Tony's stuff into the cabin and rambled on about clothes, I think. The kid looked at me like I was a talking packmule."

"Are you sure that look wasn't meant for Tony?" Peggy wondered.

"I'm sure." Steve replied.

"Well, at least he noticed you." Peggy was always so optimistic. "That's certainly worth something. Oh, here. This should take your mind off of him. Would you carry these to Coulson's office? These are all of the campers that haven't signed in. Lucky thing, too. We've never had this many campers."

Steve nodded and picked up the crates that Peggy had pointed out. He walked off in the direction of Coulson's office, unable to risk a look at Sam's cabin in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Bucky.

* * *

"Hi." The only other camper in the cabin chimed the moment that Bucky finished unpacking his socks. He cast Bucky a nervous smile. "I'm Bruce."

"Bucky."

"Nice to meet you." Bruce pushed his thick-framed glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I can't believe this place, can you? I thought that I was going to die here, but now…" He shook his head and smiled incredulously.

"Yeah. I thought I was a goner on the bus ride. Sam seems cool, though."

Bruce nodded. "Uh huh. It's really great that -"

"Right here?" Another voice drew Bucky and Bruce's attention to the doorway. In that doorway stood the most obscenely attractive boy that Bucky had ever seen.

Oh, god.

Attractive might have been an understatement. He was perfect. He had sleek blond hair that looked carefully styled, electric blue eyes that shone from every angle, shoulders the width of a damned yardstick, and a waist the width of a damned peanut. He was dressed in a striped t-shirt and a pair of jeans that seemed to cling to his waist for dear life.

"Yeah. Just choose any bunk." A careless voice came from behind him. It was a brunette boy - much shorter than the blond - who could not seem to keep his eyes off of the blond's ass. Bucky could hardly fault him for that.

"Great. Now do you have everything that you need? Clothes...food...water…" The blond asked, looking around the cabin for a moment. His eyes met Bucky's for just the shortest amount of time and Bucky's breath caught in his chest.

"I think that I could use your clothes, if you'd be so kind as to take them off." The brunette remarked, his mouth curving into an impish smile. Bucky wasn't sure what he wanted more - for the blond to strip in the middle of the cabin, or for the blond to express his disinterest in the brunette and to look at him instead.

"Very funny, Tony. These are my clothes, but if you end up needing anything, you can just ask Sam." The blond replied. Bucky couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

"You're no fun." Tony pouted.

"I'm not here to be fun." The blond replied with a smile that made Bucky's heart hammer against his chest. The blond then had the audacity to flash a smile in Bucky and Bruce's direction.

God, he was gay.

"Anyway," The blond continued. "I've got to get the other campers settled. I've got my own cabin to worry about. I'll see you at dinner, guys."

"Looking forward to it." Tony remarked as the blond left the cabin. Bucky was fairly certain that they all watched as the blond's narrow waist swayed throughout his exit.

"How hot is he?" Tony commented as he began to unpack. Bruce shrugged in silent agreement. Bucky busied himself with unpacking to avoid talking about the blond.

"What do you think, Bucky?" Bruce asked as more campers began venturing into the cabin. Bucky cringed before turning around to face Bruce and Tony.

"The blond guy? Oh, uh, yeah, he was alright. If you like that type…" He allowed with a small shrug. He didn't want to confess just how attracted to the blond counselor he really was. Not after the first hour of camp.

He shouldn't have felt so surprised when Tony called him out on it.

"Please. Your tongue was hanging out of your mouth the whole time he was here. It's alright. You're among friends, here. I'd go for it if I could."

"And why can't you?"

"He's a family friend." Tony replied with a small smile. "And he's dating Peggy. Or, at least, he was the last time I asked. It's a shame, eh, Buckley?"

"Bucky." Bucky corrected him automatically. "Who's Peggy?"

"The counselor that checked you in, I think. She checked me in, too. She had that British accent." Bruce interjected. "Maybe they'll break up during the summer."

Bucky rolled his eyes and went back to unpacking. He didn't want to continue drooling over the unavailable blond counselor. He just wanted to survive the summer. It seemed like Tony was determined to make that difficult for him.

There were six campers assigned to Bucky's cabin: Bucky, Bruce, Tony, Clint, Peter, and Scott. Sam was their counselor and seemed just as cool as any other guy. He seemed even cooler when he declared that it was time to go to dinner.

"So what's your deal?" Tony asked Scott once they had all retrieved their food and agreed to sit together. Scott looked back at Tony with an uncomprehending gaze.

"My deal?"

"Yeah. You said that you had a girlfriend back home, didn't you? Why are you here? What are your parents trying to "fix"?"

Bruce choked on his drink, sending spit flying into Bucky's drink. Bucky sighed heavily.

"Tony, I don't think that you're supposed to ask people that." Bruce reminded Tony.

"I'm going to get some more water. Does anybody want anything?" Bucky grumbled.

Three of the boys handed Bucky their empty glasses.

Bucky trudged over to the drink station and set to work filling the four glasses with water. Once they were full, he turned around and took a large step forward without really looking. He ran into someone almost immediately. He was horrified to realize that that someone was the handsome blond counselor.

"Oh, shit. I'm sorry, man." Bucky murmured awkwardly.

"Don't worry about it." The counselor shrugged with a knee-watering grin. "I was feeling a little overheated, anyway. You're Bucky, right? From Sam's cabin?"

"Yeah." Bucky was shocked that he remembered.

"I thought so. Sam was just talking about you."

"About me?" Bucky couldn't hide his surprise. "What'd he say?"

The counselor just shrugged and smiled. "Mostly that you aren't very talkative. I, uh, I get it. This is a lot to take in. But hey, I'm always here if you want to talk. Well, not here, but somewhere around. I'm Steve, by the way."

"Nice to meet you." Bucky mumbled. "I, uh, I should get back to my table."

"Oh," Steve seemed a bit put-off by Bucky's lame excuse. Bucky wished that he was able to converse with Steve as well as Tony seemed to be, but he lacked the social skills required for that. He supposed it didn't matter that much, anyway. Social skills or not, he didn't stand a chance with Steve. Steve had a girlfriend and they both looked perfect enough to be the model couple put in for-sale picture frames.

"Alright." Steve was now smiling politely. "I'll leave you to it, then. I'll see you later, Bucky."

Bucky nodded stupidly before stumbling back in the direction of his cabin's table. They immediately began to hoot and howl. Apparently they had seen him attempting to speak to Steve.

"'If you like that type,' eh?" Tony taunted. Bucky scowled.

" _That_ was the counselor? Dude. If you're not going for it, I will." Peter chimed in. Bucky rolled his eyes.

"Why are you assholes singling me out? Tony was the one that kept hitting on him in the cabin." Bucky snapped, his face reddening.

Everyone looked to Tony for some kind of answer. Apparently he was the one perpetuating the rumor that Bucky was into Steve.

"I _always_ hit on Steve. We grew up around each other. Hated him the whole time, but forgave him when he showed up to school after summer break and looked like that. Anyway, I might hit on him, but I don't stare at him like a glass of water in the middle of the desert." Tony stated. Bucky frowned and stabbed at his food with his spork.

"I don't." He grumbled.

"You do." All of the boys asserted. They all snickered.

"Can we change the topic?" Bucky asked irritably.

"Please. Let us discuss something important, like global warming, or the booger that's been hanging out of Tony's nose for hours." Scott agreed.

Tony swiped his nose with the back of his hand, his eyes narrowing. "Fine. Scott - what is wrong with you?"

* * *

"Steve. You're staring." Nat reminded Steve as he ignored his food in favor of watching Bucky.

Bucky.

Steve decided that he liked the name a lot. It was just the right combination of classic and edgy.

"Am not." Steve protested, his cheeks turning red.

Natasha cast him a look that seemed to cut right through him. Steve just diverted his attention to his food and sulked.

"I don't understand why you won't just talk to him. If Tony can do it, you can do it." Nat reasoned.

"But I'm not…" Steve shook his head.

"Oh, don't worry about being bad at flirting. He might find it endearing. I did." Peggy chimed in.

"I was going to say that I'm not even sure that I want to start anything with him, but thank you for that extra confidence boost. For the record, you were terrible at flirting, too. You shot me." Steve reminded her sulkily.

"Barely." Peggy argued.

"You shot him?" Angie, Peggy's new girlfriend, asked with a laugh.

"In the leg." Steve nodded.

"You ran in front of the target!"

"I told you to put down the bow and arrow."

"Bow and arrow?" Angie looked between Peggy and Steve curiously.

"I taught her archery." Steve explained.

"He was terrible at it." Peggy added.

"At least I didn't shoot anybody for attention." Steve bit back.

"This isn't going anywhere." Nat sighed, glancing around the staff table in exasperation. "Maybe I should find a new table to sit at. Cabin Six doesn't look so bad. I think the girl on the end over there has a flask. I should join her."

"I'll go with you." Sam agreed.

"No, you've got to stay and manage the mess." Nat shook her head.

"Why do I have to deal with them?" Sam whined.

"Because it's _your_ camper that's reducing Steve to this." Nat replied with a triumphant smile. "As far as I know, my campers are all perfectly safe for Steve to be around."

"Bucky is safe for Steve to be around, too. He barely says anything." Sam reminded her, his mouth full of ham.

"Oh, really?" Nat challenged.

"Really." Sam persisted.

"Fine. Let's find out. Steve, it looks like Bucky is going up to get water. Why don't you go talk to him and see how safe it is?" Nat said.

"I'm not going to be your experiment." Steve objected. "Besides, I still don't even know if I want anything to happen between us. A camper and a counselor...I mean...it's just so complicated."

"So maybe don't ask him to marry you. Just say hi and introduce yourself." Nat said.

"I don't think I should." Steve faltered.

"Either you go talk to him or I'll bring him over here. Your call." Sam stated, folding his arms across his chest.

Steve sighed and hung his head. Without another word to his friends, he forced himself to approach Bucky. The dark-haired boy didn't notice him approach. Evidently, he was too busy pouring the water to notice Steve. Steve was forced to just stand behind him awkwardly.

Bucky suddenly turned around and took a giant step forward. Before Steve could think to jump out of the way, Bucky collided with his chest.

"Oh, shit. I'm sorry, man." Bucky apologized in that careless tone of his. Steve's heart thumped against his chest. His ribs felt like they were on fire.

"Don't worry about it. I was feeling a little overheated anyway." That was a dumb joke. Steve grimaced and continued. "You're Bucky, right? From Sam's cabin?"

Great. Lame jokes and creepy assumptions. Steve was surely making an excellent impression.

"Yeah." Bucky looked rightfully concerned by Steve's knowledge.

"I thought so." Steve swallowed hard and nodded. "Sam was just talking about you."

"About me? What'd he say?" Bucky looked surprised. Everything Steve seemed to say was odd and creepy.

Steve forced himself to smile in an effort to placate Bucky. He also shrugged. "Mostly that you aren't very talkative. I, uh, I get it. This is a lot to take in. But hey, I'm always here if you want to talk. Well, not here, but somewhere around. I'm Steve, by the way."

Shit. He was just now telling Bucky his name. That couldn't be a good thing.

"Nice to meet you." Bucky nodded his head, his dark hair spilling across his forehead. "I, uh, I should get back to my table."

Of course.

Steve had been stupid to think that he was ready to try to connect with anyone new. He had failed miserably and now Bucky was running for the hills. He would probably spend the rest of the summer trying to avoid Steve at all costs.

"Oh." Steve couldn't keep the disappointment out of his voice. He smiled to compensate for it. "Alright. I'll leave you to it, then. I'll see you later, Bucky."

Said the serial killer.

As Bucky fled, Steve closed his eyes and wished that he would disappear from the face of the Earth.

Steve Rogers had never been sure of many things. He wasn't sure how scientist found a way to let man walk on the moon, he wasn't sure whether it was "gray" or "grey", and he wasn't sure who Al Gore was (though at this point he was afraid to ask). There was, however, one thing that he was absolutely certain of: Bucky was never going to want him.

* * *

 **Hi guys! I don't know what this is, exactly, but I couldn't help but get it out of my system. I know that I've got two other fics that I should be working on instead, but I left the outlines for both of them at my apartment at my university, so it'll be another month before I can get them back! Until then, I hope you like whatever it is that this happens to be!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Day Two**

The campers were all given a list of activities that would be taking place throughout the day and free reign to choose whatever it was that they wanted to do. Bucky chose to sit in his bunk bed and listen to his cabin mates debate what to do.

"I think the support session sounds cool." Bruce mused. Tony snorted.

"It sounds awkward to me." Clint interjected.

"And Sam is running it. No thanks." Tony added.

"What about the writing course? There'll probably be some hotties there. Writers are always hot." Peter suggested.

"Nerd." Tony answered.

"Why don't we just go to the pool? Afterwards we can go to whatever sessions we each want." Scott said as though the most obvious thing in the world.

So that's what they did. With towels slung over their bare backs, gravel burning at their feet, and curses on their lips, they walked to the pool area. A number of campers had apparently had the same thought as Scott and were now screaming and splashing in the pool.

"Guys, there's some chairs over here." Tony declared, gesturing to a row of chairs directly in the sunlight. The boys shuffled over to the chairs and laid out their towels. Bucky immediately plopped down in his chair and stretched out like a cat enjoying the sunlight.

"Bucky, come on!" Peter called as the boys jumped in the pool.

"Nah, I'm good." Bucky waved off his invitation. He liked sunbathing.

Sunbathing only lasted for ten minutes. Just as Bucky was about to fall asleep, he felt two pairs of hands on him - one pair around his wrists and one pair around his ankles. His eyes snapped opened. He groaned when he saw that Tony and Clint were the culprits that had grabbed. He just glared at them as they carried him over to the pool.

"Put me down, you dickwads." He grumbled.

"No way." Clint laughed.

"Why aren't you fighting us?" Tony asked suspiciously.

"You'd drop me if I did." Bucky reasoned. "Dickwad."

"We're gonna drop you anyway. Right now, actually. You ready, Clint?" Tony asked with a toothy grin.

"Ready." Clint confirmed.

"I hate you assho -" Bucky's words were cut off as he was thrown into the pool. He choked and spluttered on the chlorinated water forcing its way to his lungs. He attempted to get his hair out of his face, but it felt plastered to his skin. He glared at Tony and Clint.

"Why the _hell_ did you do that?" He demanded as they laughed. "We aren't good enough friends for this. We are not that close."

He climbed out of the pool. Tony's eyes roved over him. Bucky shuddered against his will.

"I thought that you might look good wet. I was right." Tony replied, waggling his eyebrows playfully.

"No kidding. Who are you?" A cute girl remarked from a few feet away. She removed her sunglasses and winked at Bucky. Bucky smiled at her hesitantly.

" _Tony_!" That voice sounded an awful lot like…

"Yes, Steve?"

Oh, hell.

Bucky averted his eyes as the gorgeous blond counselor strode over, but not before catching a glimpse of him. He was wearing swim trunks with the American flag printed on them (god bless America), a white tank top, and aviator shades that looked too good to be entirely decent.

"I shouldn't have to tell you that throwing people into the pool is against the rules." Steve sighed.

"What are you, the lifeguard?" Tony taunted.

"Yes." Steve answered matter-of-factly.

"Does Peggy know that you're actually enforcing the rules? She might look past your looks and see you for the fuddy duddy that you really are."

"Peggy?" Steve looked surprised. "Peggy and I broke up ages ago. I thought that you knew…" He trailed off, cocking his head to the side curiously.

Bucky was certain that gravity had released its hold on him the moment that the words left Steve's mouth. His heart gave an overly optimistic jolt in his chest. Steve seemed to notice Bucky's silent joy and looked over at him. Bucky had to look away to avoid saying something stupid.

"Oh, you're single now?" Tony asked pointedly. He looked from Steve to Bucky with a knowing smile. Bucky wanted to kill him.

"I'm going to go dry off. If you're done throwing me in the water, that is." Bucky grumbled, wanting nothing more than to get away from Steve.

"What if we're not done?" Tony called after him.

"You're done." Steve said gruffly.

Bucky exhaled unsteadily as he snatched up a towel and attempted to dry himself off. He then looked over at Tony, who was still talking to Steve. He was a bit worried about what Tony might say in his absence. The last thing that he needed was Steve knowing that he had developed a crush on him the moment that he had entered the cabin the day before.

Before he could wander over and call Tony's attention away from Steve, however, Peter distracted him.

"Hey, man. I think that there's a party going on in cabin fourteen after dinner. That girl over there was asking me if you'd come."

"A party? In a cabin? Do you really think it'd be that good?" Bucky could definitely use an outlet to get rid of all of the frustration that Steve had caused, but a camp party sounded like a really pathetic way to do so.

He would have preferred Steve.

But he wasn't offered Steve. He was offered a lame cabin party.

"Hey, Buck!" Tony's voice drew him out of his thoughts.

"Hang on, Tony. We're in the middle of something." Peter said.

"In the middle of what?" Tony asked, approaching them.

"There's a party going on in cabin fourteen. That girl over there told me that we'd get in as long as Bucky was with us." Peter explained before Bucky could stop him. Tony turned to look at the girl in question. Bucky scowled at the ground.

"When?" Tony questioned.

"After dinner." Peter answered.

"That's not going to work. We're going to the sex-ed session after dinner."

Bucky looked from Peter to Tony with an amused grin. "Are you making the decision for me? Who are you, my planner?"

"Yup." Tony said decisively. "Sorry, pal. You can let that girl know, Peter. Unless you wanted to schedule our own cabin party first."

Bucky shook his head. It wasn't worth it. He wasn't really interested in trying to party in a cramped cabin with no alcohol, quiet music, and sweaty campers. It wouldn't have been of any use. Only Steve could be of use.

* * *

The campers were all given a list of activities that would be taking place throughout the day and free reign to choose whatever it was that they wanted to do. Bucky chose to sit in his bunk bed and listen to his cabin mates debate what to do.

The counselors were given a list of their responsibilities for the day. They were not given free reign at all. Steve had no choice but to hope that Bucky would decide to go swimming at some point during the day.

He was dying to know what Bucky looked like in swim trunks.

"Well, well, well. Look who it is." Nat said, her voice muffled by the whistle in her mouth. Her mouth was twisted into a knowing smirk.

Steve followed Nat's gaze without question.

It was Bucky.

In swim trunks.

Steve was going to be sick.

"What do I do?" He was no longer interested in denying his crush on Bucky. He was more interested in avoiding jamming his foot even further down his throat than he already had the day before.

Nat shrugged, still smiling. "Talk to him. You've done it before."

"I can't just _talk_ to him." Steve shook his head.

"You're hopeless." Nat sighed. "And I'm bored. I think that I'm going to talk to that cabin mate of his. I think his name is Clint? Clant? Clamp? I don't know. Peggy says that he's a natural at archery and I need tips."

Having said that, she wandered off in the direction of a spiky-haired blond boy. Steve frowned. Now he was left alone to make an idiot out of himself in front of Bucky. Again.

He sighed and turned to look at Bucky. The darker haired boy was sunbathing; sprawled across the chair like a male model. Steve tried his hardest not to look - he didn't want some other kid to drown because he was too busy staring at Bucky - but he just couldn't help it. He wished that he had thought to bring his sketchbook to the pool. Bucky was a sight to behold. A sight to remember.

That sight changed when Tony and Nat's friend Clint dashed over and grabbed hold of Bucky's arms and legs. They dragged him in the direction of the pool.

At that point, Steve knew that he should have objected. As the lifeguard on duty, he should have blown his whistle and put a stop to the proceedings immediately.

And yet.

He was just a teenaged boy who wanted to see his crush emerge from the pool; muscles glistening with water.

"Why the _hell_ did you do that?" Bucky's voice could be heard over the din of the other campers occupying the pool. "We aren't good enough friends for this. We are not that close."

Steve was caught between laughter and stunned silence. Bucky was funny - something that Steve was thrilled to learn - and Bucky looked incredibly handsome crawling out of the pool with his hair stuck across his forehead. It wasn't until a girl called out to Bucky in an effort to catch his attention that Steve decided to intervene.

" _Tony_!" He hollered as loud as he could possibly manage.

"Yes, Steve?" Tony asked with a bright smile.

Steve tried to avert his eyes as he approached them. "I shouldn't have to tell you that throwing people into the pool is against the rules."

"What are you, the lifeguard?" Tony asked.

For a genius, he didn't always ask the best questions.

"Yes." Steve answered with a laugh.

"Does Peggy know that you're actually enforcing the rules? She might look past your looks and see you for the fuddy duddy that you really are." Tony quirked an eyebrow knowingly.

Steve paused. Tony _knew_ that he and Peggy had broken up. Everyone knew that he and Peggy had broken up. Tony might've asked stupid questions, but he wasn't actually stupid.

"Peggy?" Steve wondered if Tony had hit his head on the side of the pool while swimming. "Peggy and I broke up ages ago. I thought that you knew…" He could resist glancing at Bucky. The last thing that he wanted Bucky to think was that he had a girlfriend.

"Oh, you're single now?" Tony asked, looking between Steve and Bucky while smiling like an idiot.

Subtle, Tony. Subtle.

Steve was going to kill him. He really was.

"I'm going to go dry off. If you're done throwing me in the water, that is." Bucky said, looking at Steve as though he wanted nothing more than to escape his presence. He probably did.

"What if we're not done?" Tony asked, still wearing that stupid smile of his.

"You're done." Steve snapped.

Bucky let out a heavy sigh before returning to his chair and retrieving his towel. As soon as he was out of earshot, Steve towered over Tony. He folded his arms across his chest and frowned, waiting for Tony's apology. He wasn't too surprised when it never came.

"You're welcome."

"I'm sorry. Was I supposed to thank you?" Steve demanded incredulously.

"I should think so." Tony replied as though it were perfectly obvious. "I just wingman-ed the hell out of that. Didn't you see his face when he heard that you were single? He was ready to jump your bones!"

"He was ready to check us both into an asylum."

"Oh, come on. You have to notice the way that he checks you out."

"Tony, I don't think he's interested. It's okay. I tried. That's...almost enough."

"You're an idiot, Rogers." Tony disapproved, shaking his head. "That kid is so into you that he can barely speak. You know what? I'll prove it to you. What activity are you hosting tonight?"

"Why? What are you planning?" Steve questioned suspiciously.

"Where's the trust?"

"It disappeared along with my hamster in the eighth grade." Steve answered. "Now what are you planning on doing?"

"I'm just going to bring the guys; give you another chance to see the way that Bucky looks at you. Who knows? Maybe you'll find a way to proclaim your undying lust to young Bucky once the activity ends."

"The activity is a sex-ed session. Not very sexy." Steve responded, his mouth twitching into a smile.

"So make it sexy." Tony shrugged. "I'll go tell Bucky that we've got plans tonight. Good timing, too. I think that he's already getting other offers."

"Whatever, Tony." Steve rolled his eyes and shook his head.

He couldn't help feeling just a bit thrilled at the prospect of speaking to Bucky later that evening.

* * *

Dinner was brief and full of Peter's complaints about missing the cabin party that no one else really seemed to care about. Bucky considered it a small success solely because he managed to avoid staring at Steve for longer than fifteen seconds at a time.

After dinner, Tony grabbed Bucky by the arm and guided him away from their cabin. The rest of their cabin mates followed them for some unfathomable reason. It seemed that they all wanted to go to the open-panel sex-ed session.

When they arrived at the session, Bucky was horrified to realize that Steve was in charge.

Steve was going to be talking about sex for at least an hour.

It was a nightmare.

Bucky could not have imagined a worse form of torture. Hearing Steve reference his past sexual experiences was absolutely destroying him. It wasn't that he was jealous - though he would have given anything to be the subject of one of Steve's stories - it was that his mind was all too willing to produce images of Steve in various sexual scenarios. He had to force himself to think the most unarousing thoughts possible just to offset the effects of Steve's stories. The last thing that Bucky wanted was to embarrass himself now.

Once the torture was over, Bucky just wanted to leave. Tony, on the other hand, did not. He held onto Bucky's arm as he called Steve over.

"Hey guys." Steve said in that easy way that only he could manage.

"Hey Steve. Bucky was just telling me how useful all of the information you shared was." Tony said.

Bucky had had enough.

"No I wasn't." He snapped just as Steve was opening his mouth.

"Didn't you? Maybe it was Scott. I'll go ask him. Hey, Scott!" Tony ran off, leaving Bucky alone with Steve. Bucky made a mental note to smother Tony in his sleep that night.

"Well," Steve said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and smiling at Bucky kindly. "I hope that you did get something out of all of this."

"Oh, I got something out of it, alright." Bucky mumbled, wondering if it was completely obvious how on-edge he was.

"Good." Steve smiled. Jesus, he was devastating.

"Uh, I guess I should get back to my cabin. Looks like my friends left me." Bucky remarked, looking around for any sign of his cabin mates. For any excuse to run away from Steve. He was such a coward.

"Mind if I walk with you? I've got plans with Sam, so I'm headed that way."

"Sam? Are you guys…?" Bucky didn't know how to finish the question.

"We're friends." Steve said with a shrug and a smile.

Bucky nodded and was suddenly at a loss for words. They had started to walk back together and Bucky felt suffocated by the silence. He wanted to talk to Steve but didn't know how.

"So where are you from?" Steve asked after a minute or two.

"Brooklyn." Bucky answered.

Steve's eyes lit up.

"Get out of here - so am I! What school do you go to?"

"Jefferson." Bucky's heart hammered against his chest. The idea that Steve might go to the same school as him was both enticing and terrifying. "What about you?"

"Oh, I used to go to St. George's private school, but now I, uh, I'm homeschooled. here." Steve answered, not meeting Bucky's eyes.

"Here?" Bucky looked around as though he expected to see a line of desks sitting out in the middle of the woods. "How does that work?"

"It's a little complicated." Steve admitted. "But, uh, this place is pretty much my home. I live here year round. They bring in a teacher for the counselors during the school year. In exchange, we work as counselors during the summer for a few hundred bucks. It's a pretty fair deal."

"Don't your parents mind?" Bucky wondered.

"My parents are dead." Steve replied.

Bucky's eyes widened. He choked on air. He was awful.

"I'm so sorry." He spluttered.

Steve just shrugged off his apology. "Don't be. It isn't your fault."

Bucky swallowed hard and nodded his head. He had no idea what to say - now more than ever.

"Anyway, this camp is my home now. It's great. Everyone here is like family to me." Steve explained. They had walked straight past Bucky's cabin. Bucky pretended not to notice.

"Even Peggy?" The words slipped out before Bucky could stop them.

Steve looked at him in surprise before smiling sheepishly. "I guess Tony told you about her. She was...different. I don't know."

"So you're bisexual?" Bucky asked tentatively.

"I guess so." Steve tilted his head to the side a bit, considering it. "What about you?"

"I've been with a few girls, but I prefer guys. That's why I'm here."

"Yeah, but it's not so bad here, is it?"

Bucky tried not to look at Steve as he said, "I guess it's alright."

"I'll take it." Steve chuckled, a low rumbling sound. "I'm sure you'll love it by the time the session's over."

"I don't know." Bucky replied coyly. "If I like it that much, I might never leave."

"There are worse things. I wouldn't mind."

Bucky turned to look at Steve. Steve smiled back at Bucky, sending a jolt through him. Bucky's heart leapt up to his throat while his stomach dropped down to his feet, leaving him dizzy and breathless.

Steve was flirting with him.

Steve was _actually_ flirting with him.

Now was the time to make a move. Now was the prime opportunity to find out if Steve was even remotely interested in him. He just had to -

"Steve! There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you. I wanted to give you this." A cute girl interrupted. Steve and Bucky both turned to look at her as she skipped over to Steve and handed him a piece of paper. "It's from Mike. He was too shy to give it to you himself. Weird, all things considered."

Steve smiled. "Thanks Angie."

He accepted the piece of paper and slipped it into his back pocket without even looking at it.

Bucky wondered who Mike was. Probably another camper that was in love with Steve. Probably another camper that Steve had made feel special with kind words and a devastating smile.

"Oh." Angie finally noticed Bucky. "Hi. I'm Angie."

"Bucky." He nodded his head in a short jerky motion. "I should probably get back to my cabin. I'll see you later, Steve."

Before Steve could say another word, Bucky darted off in the direction of his cabin. He was so desperate to escape the awkward situation.

So much for his prime opportunity.

* * *

Steve had flirted with Bucky.

He had _actually_ flirted with Bucky.

His limbs were still trembling as he was left in Bucky's wake, standing beside Angie like a lovestruck idiot.

Tony had really come through for him. For once. He had brought Bucky to the sex-ed open panel, where Bucky had actually listened to him instead of making some awful excuse to run away. Then Tony had abandoned Bucky, leaving him to walk back to the cabin with Steve. That had been great. Bucky was great.

"So that was him." Angie commented, nodding in the direction that Bucky had walked off in.

"Yeah," Steve grinned. "That was him."

"I'm sorry."

"Why?" Steve turned to look at Angie in surprise.

"Oh," Angie glanced at Bucky's cabin before looking at Steve in a combination of confusion and sympathy. "No. It's nothing. He seems nice. Anyway, I have plans with Peggy. I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast. Goodnight, Steve!"

She dashed off before Steve could even begin to understand what she had meant when she said "sorry". Steve stared after her, his mouth hanging open and his mind reeling.

Maybe he hadn't really flirted with Bucky at all.

Maybe he had just said some more creepy things and Bucky was just getting much better at responding to them without looking so concerned. Asking him where he lived was a bit above and beyond.

"Fuck." Steve murmured, running a hand through his hair anxiously.

It was possible that Steve had been imagining every single look on Bucky's face throughout the evening. He had tricked himself into believing the impossible.

He needed to talk to someone about this. He needed to come up with some kind of contingency plan before he messed things up with Bucky yet again. Sam was out of the question - the very last thing that Steve wanted to do was see Bucky again - and Peggy seemed to have plans with Angie.

He found himself knocking on the door to Nat's cabin.

"Ooh, Natasha. It's your boyfriend!" One of the campers teased when she opened the door.

"Clint?" Nat emerged from her room with a curious look on her face.

"Clint?" Steve echoed, cocking his head and smirking slightly.

When Natasha caught sight of who was at the door, she scowled. "Shut up. Girls, get to bed. Steve, get in my room. What are you doing here? I thought that you had a hot date with one of Sam's boys?"

"Well, yeah." Steve shook his head as he walked into Nat's room. "I mean, no. I don't know. We walked back to his cabin and talked for a little while, but then Angie showed up with another one of Mike's drawings and he took off. Once he was gone, Angie said she was sorry. I thought that it had gone well, but now I don't know…"

Nat rolled her eyes and sat down. "You're an idiot."

"Thanks." Steve murmured sarcastic, glaring at her half-heartedly. "Nat, what am I supposed to do? I thought that I was finally getting through to him, but apparently I'm just some guy who has no idea how to talk to other people."

"I'm sure that you're exaggerating. Maybe Angie was just apologizing for interrupting."

"It didn't sound like it."

"Maybe she was apologizing for stealing your girlfriend."

"After months? I doubt it."

"Maybe she's apologizing in advance before she steals Bucky."

"I don't think that he's her type."

"I don't know Steve." Nat sighed. "I think that you're just doing that thing again."

"What thing?" Steve demanded.

"You always find a reason not to go after someone that you want. With Peggy, it was your lack of experience. With Sam, it was your friendship. And now there's Bucky. One ambiguous apology from Angie and you're ready to call it quits."

"I don't do that."

"Oh, really? Then why don't you ask Bucky out tomorrow? You've got the weekend off. Take him on a date. Sneak out in the middle of the night and let yourself actually enjoy somebody's company without overthinking it."

"Is that what you did with Clint?" Steve grinned.

Nat threw a pillow at his head.

"Shut up before I make you the target at archery tomorrow."

"Alright, alright. I'll go. Thanks for, uh, talking me down from the ledge." Steve said, smiling at Nat for a second before shuffling towards the door.

"Hold on a second, Rogers." Nat's voice halted him. "Before you go, just tell me one thing: have you started drawing him yet?"

* * *

 **Look what I'm finally doingggg! Okay, I've got the next 5 chapters finished so hopefully I won't have such a long period of time before updates again. So, please motivate me to actually do that. Leave any reviews that you have to spare and please favorite/follow if you like what's happening here. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Day Three**

The third day of camp was a rainy one. Bucky was glad. It gave him a much more convincing excuse to stay behind when Tony suggested that they all attend a video game tournament being held in the dining hall. Unfortunately, "much more convincing," was still not convincing enough.

"Come on, Barnes. Steve might be there." Tony grinned.

Little did he know, that was what Bucky was afraid of.

"I really can't." Bucky protested.

"Why not? Afraid of a little competition?" Scott teased.

Clint snorted. "I don't think that you count as competition, Scott."

"C'mon, Buck." Bruce pleaded.

"I, uh, I have a date." Bucky lied.

What a terrible lie. Where would Bucky have found a date in the past three days? Bucky hadn't even found friends other than the assholes he was rooming with in the past three days. Tony would see through his story in seconds. Then he would ask about Bucky's night with Steve and Bucky really did not want to relive that kind of embarrassment.

"I thought that Steve was going to the video game thing." Tony looked confused. Bucky took in a huge gulp of air.

"It's not with Steve." He couldn't keep the irritated tone out of his voice.

"Is it with the girl from the pool?" Peter asked.

"No. It's with a guy. A guy you don't know. I, uh, I'm meeting him in half an hour, so you'll just have to manage without me for a little while." Bucky could feel his face burning with embarrassment.

"Okay," Tony said, eying Bucky curiously. "Good luck on your date, then. I expect to hear details when I get back."

"If you're lucky." Bucky smirked.

"I think that you should be worried about your own luck, pal. Don't do anything - or any _one_ \- that I wouldn't do." Tony winked as he and the other boys exited the cabin.

"Behave irresponsibly. Got it." Bucky mumbled to himself with a small smile. He wandered over his bed and crawled into it.

* * *

Steve was minding his own business by the snacks table at the video game tournament when Tony stormed over and knocked a piece of pizza right out of his hand. He looked up in surprise, demanding an explanation.

"Hey, Rogers. How could you have possibly messed up with Bucky last night? I practically hand-fed him to you!" Tony nearly shouted.

Steve's eyes widened. He looked around to see if anyone had overheard Tony's thoughtless remark before turning his attention to the shorter boy standing before him.

"What are you talking about? Did he say something to you?"

"Yeah, he did. He said that he had a date."

"A date?" Steve echoed, unable to believe the words.

"Great hearing, grandpa." Tony rolled his eyes irritably. "Now would you please explain to me why Bucky is meeting up with some guy for a date when he spent most of last night with you? What did you do? Did he see your sketchbook?"

"What is it about my - no, Tony. He hasn't seen my sketchbook. I don't know what I did. One minute it seemed like everything was going great and the next he just ran off." Steve answered. His stomach felt like lead.

"You had to have done something." Tony prompted.

"I really don't think that I did. We talked about his life back home, we talked about my life here -"

Tony let out an annoyed huff. "Well there's your problem. You've got to wait longer than a day before laying on the heavy stuff. You didn't tell him about your parents, did you?"

Steve cringed. "I might've."

"Idiot." Tony groaned. "Bucky doesn't know you well enough to care about your parents. All he knew before last night was that you were hot and single. Now he knows that you might be hot, but you've got a lot of baggage. Who wants baggage?"

"He didn't seem bothered by it." Steve sulked, glancing at where Nat and Sam were playing Mario Cart and screaming at the top of their lungs in an effort to distract himself. "He didn't leave right after I mentioned them. I think we might've even had a moment afterwards…"

"Evidently, you were wrong. Not an unfamiliar feeling for you, I'm sure." Tony remarked.

"Shut up, Tony." Steve said reflexively. "Look, I don't think that it had anything to do with my parents. He didn't run off until Angie interrupted us. You don't think that he was embarrassed to be seen with me, do you?"

"Don't be stupid; no one would be embarrassed to be seen with you. You're the camp's golden boy." Tony waved off his concern. "What did Angie say to you guys?"

"She just gave me another one of Mike's drawings."

"Did you tell Bucky who Mike was?"

"No, I thought he'd just...know." Steve paused, closed his eyes and hung his head.

God, he was an idiot.

"You don't think he thought that Mike…"

"Probably." Tony answered as though it were perfectly obvious. "I mean, look at you. You don't exactly look like the kind of guy that would spend his summer brooding over one person in particular. He probably thinks that you flirt with all of the campers. He's the type that might care about that sort of thing."

"And now he's going on a date with someone else." Steve murmured glumly.

"Well…" Tony trailed off, glancing down at his cell phone.

"Well?" Steve perked up.

"He might not have gone yet. He said that he was leaving in a half an hour to meet up with the guy. It's only been twenty minutes. He might still be at the cabin." Tony mused.

"Think I should go over there?" Steve was reluctant to bother Bucky again. He wasn't sure that he could handle yet another rejection.

"It's either that or watch him spend the rest of his summer with someone else." Tony shrugged, a hint of a smirk playing on his lips.

Steve sucked in a deep breath, glancing from Nat and Sam to the door of the dining hall.

"Tell Nat that I went to grab a jacket from my cabin."

* * *

Bucky enjoyed being alone for the first time in days. He read a book, watched the rain through the window, stole a few of Scott's fruit roll ups, and listened to his music without worrying about Tony smacking him in the face with a pillow. It wasn't until the cabin door slammed open that Bucky reluctantly acquainted himself with reality yet again.

Oh, _god_.

If Steve hadn't yet driven Bucky insane, he had now.

He was standing in the doorway, drenched from the rain. His hair was a few shades darker and slicked back. His black t-shirt was plastered against his chest. His jeans were clinging onto his hips for dear life. His cheeks were red from the cold. He stared at Bucky with those icy eyes of his. Bucky couldn't help but stare back stupidly.

"Bucky?" Steve asked breathlessly. Bucky's heart lurched uncomfortably in his chest.

"Hey, Steve." He managed in a strained voice. He shifted in his bed to get a better look at Steve.

Steve seemed to misinterpret the shift and looked down at the ground. "Oh, uh, listen. I don't mean to intrude, but you can't really have anybody in there with you."

Bucky raised an eyebrow at Steve. "I'm the only one here. Besides you, that is."

"Shit. I'm sorry." Steve planted his hands on his hips and stared down at the ground. He shook his head before speaking again. "I'm really sorry. I don't know what I -"

He paused, considering his words.

"Is Sam here?"

Bucky swallowed hard before shaking his head. "No, I don't think so."

"Oh. Okay. Uh, thanks. I'll see you." Steve left just as abruptly as he had arrived.

Bucky stared after him in confusion.

He was no longer certain that Steve had any sort of interest in him; the blond had fled at the sight of him. He probably still felt weird about the sequence of events that had taken place the previous night. He might've even been looking for Mike.

"Shut up." Bucky instructed his own brain, shoving his face into his pillow and groaning.

His brain didn't listen. It just kept reminding him just how good Steve looked when he was searching for someone that was not Bucky.

* * *

 **A short chapter, I know, but anyone that's ever been to camp and had a camp crush knows that some days are more eventful than others. Never fear, though. Big things are coming up. There are going to be new people, new experiences, and new awkward moments.**

 **Also, thank you to everyone reviewing. Seriously. You all are absolutely amazing. I love reading what everyone thinks about my poor fictional children and their bad attempts at flirting with each other. They just make my day! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Day Four**

It seemed like Tony was doing everything in his power to drive Bucky utterly insane. The moment that the boys had returned from their video game tournament, Tony had announced that they would be spending the next morning learning how to box. The counselor in charge of that activity, of course, was Steve.

Bucky had tried to skip out on the morning's activities. He made up a whole string of lies about having plans with other friends, feeling under the weather, wanting to check out a group support session...nothing worked. Tony was insistent. He found a way to undermine every single one of Bucky's excuses until Bucky found himself standing on the dewy grass, watching Steve demonstrate the correct way to punch somebody and wishing he was anywhere else.

"Any questions?" Steve brushed his hair out of his face and smiled at the group of campers standing around him. His eyes connected with Bucky's for just a second. Bucky looked away.

"Good." Steve didn't seem bothered at all. He seemed just as impossibly cheerful and kind as always. "Find yourself a sparring partner and carefully try out the moves that I just showed you. I'll be around to help anyone who needs it."

Bucky turned to Scott. Scott was already partners with Peter. He turned to Bruce. Bruce was partners with Tony. In a fit of desperation, he turned to Clint.

Wait.

"Where's Clint?" He looked around wildly, panic beginning to take hold of his chest.

He couldn't be devoid of a partner. He couldn't let Steve see that he was the last kid to find a partner willing to spar with him. He couldn't leave himself open to yet another horribly awkward conversation with Steve.

Tony glanced over at Bucky and smirked. "Off practicing archery with his girlfriend. Guess you're soloing, Buck."

"You were the one that dragged me to this fucking thing, Stark." Bucky growled, desperation turning into anger. "If it weren't for you, I'd still be in my bed. You owe me this."

"Barnes, I am not a right. I'm a privilege. I'm sticking with Banner. He appreciates me. I'm sure there's someone else around here who would just love to punch you a couple of times." Tony responded smugly. Bucky struggled to avoid punching him in the face.

"Do you not have a partner?" Steve's voice came from behind him.

Bucky whipped around, his face burning with embarrassment. Steve was standing right there, looking just as extraordinary as ever. His eyes were surprisingly bright and alert for seven in the morning, he had a severe case of bedhead, and he had decided to torment the world by wearing a tank top. His biceps were out and better than Bucky had originally thought.

This was going to be one long summer.

"Uh, no, I, uh-" He looked around for someone else. Anyone else. There was no one. "I'm just going to join Tony and Bruce."

"No you're not." Tony chimed in unhelpfully. Bucky glared at him.

"Well, um, I don't think that a group of three would work that great anyway. If there's no one left, I, uh, I'd be happy to work with you."

* * *

Steve held his breath as he waited for Bucky to make a decision.

He wouldn't have blamed Bucky for saying no; he had been acting weird from the get-go and boxing could be surprisingly intimate at times. The warm, muggy weather and the tension between Steve and Bucky did not help the situation.

"I...uh…" Bucky looked around, probably hoping that someone else would magically appear. "I guess that's okay." He cast Tony a dirty look before hanging his head and following Steve to a space where they wouldn't bump into anyone else. When Bucky wasn't looking, Tony smirked and winked at Steve, evidently pleased with his matchmaking "skills".

"So what do we do?" Bucky asked, his voice filled with disinterest. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and looked around awkwardly. Possibly for whoever it was he had gone on a date with the day before. Steve tried not to let that bother him.

"Uh, well that all depends on which role you want to play." Steve replied, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably.

Bucky snapped to attention. "What?"

"No, it isn't...I don't mean...it's boxing. You're either playing an offensive strategy or a defensive one. Which would you rather do?" Steve explained, his ears burning with embarrassment.

"Oh." Bucky looked off into the distance again. "Defense, I guess."

"Okay." Steve swallowed hard and nodded. "So my first move is going to be a trick; it'll look like I'm aiming for your shoulder, but I'll actually make contact with your stomach the moment that you move just like that." Steve pulled Bucky's shoulder back with one hand and pressed his other fist against Bucky's stomach as gently as he could manage. "I'd want to confuse you early on in the match - make you think a little. You tire out faster that way."

"What would I do to prevent that?" Bucky was finally paying attention. He looked Steve straight in the eyes. The words that Steve had been planning on saying clogged in his throat, coming out in an unintelligible jumble.

"Sit your fists in the…" He cleared his throat and shook his head. "You'd want to hunch over a little and keep your fists up. There you go. Now if I ducked down to get at your stomach, you'd have a clear shot at my face. Just don't actually hit me that hard. I don't think that I would be able to teach boxing anymore if I wound up with a fat lip."

"Excuses, excuses." Bucky cracked a smile and Steve could have sworn the Earth shook below his feet. He was getting a glimpse at the unguarded Bucky that he had witnessed two nights ago and he didn't quite know how to handle it. He didn't want to mess up and lose it again.

"Sorry. Maybe you can sneak a sucker punch at the end of the summer before you step on the bus." Steve ventured, forcing a playful smile. He was certain that his nerves were showing, but he was trying. Bucky couldn't get much more than that from him.

Bucky's smile faltered. He averted his eyes once again. Steve was tempted to sucker punch himself. He had somehow managed to mess up yet another interaction with Steve.

"Uh, so here's what you would do if I managed to back you into a corner."

* * *

Two months. That was all the time that Bucky would ever spend with Steve.

Why was Bucky even wasting his time worrying about the stupid counselor when he would be leaving in two months anyway? Why was he spending time worrying about who else Steve might be flirting with, worry about how Steve actually felt towards him? He needed to save his energy for someone that would actually stay around for longer than two months.

While Bucky was lost in his thoughts, Steve demonstrated a move that he was not mentally prepared to block. Steve's fist made contact with Bucky's shoulder and Bucky stumbled backwards, tripping over a patch of grass in the process. He wound up falling flat on his ass.

"Oh, man. I'm sorry. Did I get you hard? Here, let me help you up." Steve outstretched a hand. Bucky reluctantly accepted it and immediately regretted it.

Touching Steve's hand felt like touching a live wire. Bucky could feel a jolt of electricity surging through his body. He yanked his hand back reflexively. Steve looked both concerned and offended.

"I, uh," Bucky looked around a bit desperately.

It didn't matter that he was only going to be around Steve for two months. A minute with Steve felt like days. Days spent travelling between heaven and hell; heaven when Steve smiled and hell when Bucky found himself fumbling over words. Bucky would most certainly be spending the next two months worrying about who else Steve might be flirting with and how Steve actually felt towards him.

He had to get away. He had to save himself.

"I think I'd better get a shower."

"Right now?" Steve asked, cocking his head to the side a bit. Bucky swallowed hard.

"Yeah. If I, uh, if I wait for the session to end, I'll be waiting in line with those guys. Tony takes forever in the shower. Anyway, uh, thanks for everything. I'll...yeah." Bucky didn't want to promise that he would see Steve later. He didn't even want to hope that he would see Steve later.

He did, though.

* * *

 _That went well_ , Steve thought to himself as Bucky fled to the safety of his cabin.

Tony had actually managed to get him and Bucky to spend some time together and Steve had accidentally assaulted him.

Maybe he deserved to be single.


	5. Chapter 5

**Day Five**

"Bucky, go long!" Clint hollered as he inched backwards, holding a football in his right hand just like the quarterbacks on TV.

"I was supposed to be the quarterback, Clint." Bucky grumbled. "I'm the one who plays football."

"Yeah, but I've got the better arms. Now go _long_." Clint said impatiently.

"Who says you've got the better arms?" Bucky asked with an amused grin.

"Nat." Clint answered smugly.

"Oh, yeah? How's that going?" Bucky asked, taking a few steps backwards without turning around.

He liked hanging out with Clint. Clint was either too selfish or just too polite to pester him about Steve. He was perfectly content to talk about anything and everything else; the counselor that he was sneaking around with, the book that he had just finished reading, the plight of the bees, the smell of the grass...it was a welcomed change of pace from the rest of their cabin mates.

Tony, meanwhile, loomed in the distance. He was talking to Steve about something. Bucky refused to look in their direction. He refused to even think about it for longer than a few seconds at a time.

"Like you wouldn't believe. She's incredible. Last night she climbed the top of the flag pole with bare hands and bare feet." Clint answered, tossing the ball to Bucky. A content smile played on his lips.

"Shit." Bucky appreciated. He caught the ball and shifted it from hand to hand as he thought about what to say. "And she thinks that you have nice arms? You'd think that someone with upper body strength would know better." He threw the ball back towards Clint.

"Asshole." Clint said without much malice. Bucky doubted that Clint was capable of much malice at all. "I think that I'm going to start sitting with her during meals. You don't think that'd be too weird, do you?" He threw the ball again.

"At the counselor's table?" Bucky asked, catching the ball and looking at Clint curiously. "Don't you think that that would ruin the whole 'sneaking around' thing that you've been doing?"

"Well, it's not technically against the rules for us to be together." Clint shrugged.

Bucky shrugged in return and threw the ball. "I don't know, man. Sounds pretty serious. Tony might harass you for a little while, but I doubt anyone else will care. I won't."

"Don't lie to me, Barnes. I know that you'll be staring at me longingly from across the cafeteria." Clint smirked as he threw the football.

"Sad Elton John music will play in the background." Bucky agreed, throwing the football back.

"Elton John? Flamer." Clint teased.

"You wound me." Bucky huffed in false indignation.

"I think there's a first aid kit in the cabin. Unless you used it to clean yourself up after you got knocked on your ass at boxing." Clint remarked, closing one of his eyes and taking a few steps backwards. "Get back. I'm gonna throw this one clear across the state."

Bucky snorted. "Yeah, okay."

Clint threw the ball. Admittedly, it looked like it would go much further than Bucky had anticipated. Bucky tried to run backwards to catch it, but wound up colliding with someone in the process. The ball tumbled to the ground a few feet away. Clint shouted and jeered from a distance.

"Hey man, I'm sorry." Bucky apologized to the guy that he'd run into.

The guy shook his head and smiled. "Don't worry about it. It was my fault. I was...standing. I shouldn't have been doing that."

Bucky laughed. "Yeah, that was clearly your bad. Who do you think you are, standing around like that? You should be on the lookout for anyone that might run into you. It's really the decent thing to do."

"I'll keep that in mind. I'm Alex, by the way."

"Bucky. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. So, Bucky, think that you have room for another person? My friends seem to have abandoned me and I haven't played football in ages." Alex glanced from Clint to Bucky and smiled hopefully.

"Sure. Just don't listen to anything Clint says about his arms. He's...uh...well, he's crazy."

* * *

"Who's that?" Steve felt all of the blood drain from his face as Bucky spoke to a handsome, well-dressed camper. Bucky was smiling that genuine smile that Steve had only managed to extract a handful of times. He was giving it away like it wasn't worth a thing to him.

"I don't know. I've never met him before. I wonder why. He looks just like my type." Tony mused, leaning back and looking at Bucky's new friend.

"Not helping." Steve said through gritted teeth.

"Are you seriously worried about him?" Tony asked, turning to look at Steve incredulously. "C'mon, Steve. That guy doesn't compare to you. You know that."

"It looks like Bucky likes him." Steve muttered.

It was possible that this guy was the one that Bucky had been talking about two days ago. They were certainly talking and laughing like they knew each other pretty well. Steve couldn't help the jealousy clawing at his chest. He wanted to find a reason to send that guy home. He wanted to ward off anyone that received a genuine Bucky smile.

"No it doesn't. Bucky talks to everyone like that. You'd think that he was auditioning for Miss America."

"He doesn't talk to me like that."

"That's because he's nervous around you." Tony spoke as though his explanations were perfectly obvious. Steve wasn't so sure.

"Probably because he's worried I'm going to hit him again." Steve buried his face in his hands.

"Yeah, that wasn't your smoothest move." Tony agreed with an amused smile. "And I really gave you a huge window of opportunity, making him your partner. You could have gotten up close and personal under the guise of a boxing move, but no. You just had to knock him down."

"Not helping." Steve reminded Tony.

"Well, damn, Steve. I don't know how you expect me to help. I've given you plenty of chances to talk to him one-on-one. It's not my fault that you've fucked up every single time. Maybe you should just go over there and ask to join their game. You can throw a football, can't you?" Tony suggested impatiently.

Steve shook his head. Approaching Bucky was difficult enough when he was alone. When he was surrounded by guys - one of whom was looking at him like a pile of presents on Christmas morning - it was damn near impossible. He couldn't bear the sight of Bucky's smile slipping away, only to be replaced with an uncomfortable stare.

"Can't you...I don't know...talk me up?"

"Are we in middle school?"

"Shut up." Steve grumbled. "You know that I'm not good at this."

"Yeah, well, neither is he. If one of you doesn't get their shit together, you're both going to be spending the summer alone."

"Just get me one more chance. Please."

"How am I supposed to do that? Drug him and drag him all the way over to your cabin? I'm not saying no, but he's pretty heavy."

"Just…" Steve didn't even know what to ask for. His shook his head. "Get him to come to the rope course activity tomorrow. I'm running it. If we could just walk back to camp from the woods, maybe I'd be able to connect with him."

"You've got to promise that you won't hit him again." Tony said with a playful grin.

"I promise." Steve sighed, glaring at Tony slightly.

"Good. Then I will abandon my precious Buckley in the woods tomorrow morning. You can live out all of your sickest Little Red Riding Hood fantasies." Tony winked.

"You're disgusting, Tony." Steve mumbled, punching Tony's shoulder.

* * *

 _ **Just because it might be a little bit ambiguous:**_ **Bucky's new friend, Alex? His last name is Pierce. Ring a bell for anyone? Hmmm?**

 **Anyway. Thanks to all who have been reading thus far. I swear the fluff is going somewhere other than these two dumb babies embarrassing themselves in front of each other. Eventually. Although they really hit a new level of stupidity next chapter. But that's a spoiler, isn't it? Yes, yes it is. Okay. I'm really going now. I hope you're enjoying the story thus far!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Day Six**

Bucky should have known better than to trust Peter to choose the morning's activity. Peter was so clearly infatuated with Tony. It was only natural that he would choose whatever it was that Tony was gunning to do.

Which, of course, was Steve's activity.

High ropes.

"Okay," Steve said in that infuriatingly chipper voice of his. "So now that you all have your harnesses on, you just have to clip yourself to this rope here and climb up to that tower. From there, you can step out onto the ropes. I'll support your weight from down here so you don't fall. Who wants to go first?"

"Me!" Clint jumped up and down, waving his hand in the air. A childish grin played on his face.

"Really?" Bucky couldn't hide his surprise.

"Yeah, dude. I love heights. You can see everything!" Clint replied, clipping one end of the rope to his harness and scrambling up the tower before Steve could say a single word to him.

Bucky let out a huff of air and shook his head.

Unlike Clint, Bucky hated heights.

It wasn't that he had any sort of traumatic experience with them. Not yet, anyway. He was just waiting for some tragedy to happen to him when he stood more than five feet from the ground. He was just waiting for some roof to crumble, for some bastard to push him…

"Bucky? You want to go?" Steve's pleasant voice caused Bucky to shiver despite the heat.

"I really don't." Bucky said, shaking his head.

"Aw, come on. You should at least try it. If Clint can do it, you can do it." Alex - whose cabin was also attending the activity - pressed, a gleeful smile playing on his thin lips. Bucky returned the smile but shook his head a second time.

"I'm really not a fan of heights."

"I've got you." Steve interjected, taking a step closer to Bucky. He had the audacity to look Bucky in the eyes. Bucky could hardly think with those eyes focused on him.

"I don't know…"

"Get up there, Bucky." Tony said, taking hold of the rope and clipping it to Bucky's harness without hesitation. He nodded towards the tower expectantly.

"Fine." Bucky snapped. "But if I die, I'm coming back just to haunt you."

"You're not gonna die, Buck." Steve chuckled.

Bucky paused.

Had Steve just called him _Buck_?

* * *

Steve hadn't meant to use the informal version of Bucky's nickname. He had heard a few of Bucky's cabin mates use it and he had admittedly used it in the comforts of his own mind a few times, but he had never let it slip out of his mouth before. He felt his cheeks turn an angry shade of red as Bucky shot him a curious look.

Luckily, the look did not last very long. Bucky turned around and began to climb up the tower.

The campers remaining on the ground called out encouragements and jokes to Bucky. Bucky glared at them regardless of what they said. It was obvious that he was not particularly enjoying himself. Steve wondered how Tony had managed to get him to even show up at this activity.

It was only thirty seconds before Bucky's infuriated voice rang out through the woods.

"I'm stuck."

"What do you mean you're _stuck_?" Clint asked from his perch on the tower.

"I mean, I'm stuck in a damn tree."

"A tree? This is a ropes course. How the fuck did you get stuck in a _tree_?" Tony demanded, unable to keep the laughter out of his voice.

"Well, Tony," Bucky responded snidely. "There are trees in the woods. If you wander around the tree tops attached to a rope, it's entirely possible that you will get stuck in the fucking trees."

"Alright, alright." Steve couldn't help but smile. "Settle down, you two. Bucky, I'll come up there and get you down. Tony, hold this rope for me, would you? Don't let him fall. I'm going to hold you accountable for him."

"Of course you will." Tony said with smirk, taking the rope from Steve.

Steve decided not to think about how untrustworthy Tony really was.

Instead, he scrambled up the tower and inched across the rope. He made it to the section that wasn't visible to the campers below; the section completely shrouded in trees. He immediately saw Bucky caught in the trees, clinging to a branch and looking extremely unhappy. He struggled to bite back an inappropriate smile.

"You really got yourself tangled up here." He said instead, inching over to Bucky and looking for the right angle to untangle the rope.

"Yeah, well, that's what I was going for." Bucky mumbled, not even looking at Steve.

Steve tried not to let that bother him.

"I, uh, I think I'm going to have to unclip the rope from your harness."

"What?" Bucky finally looked at Steve. His eyes were wild with panic. His mouth was wide open. His face turned surprisingly pale in such a short amount of time.

"Hey," Steve softened his voice. "It's alright. I don't have a harness and I'm doing okay. I think we're going to have to cut the rope out of the tree and you don't want to be attached to it when that happens. C'mon. Grab my hand and I'll keep you steady while we do this."

* * *

 _Grab my hand_?

Was Steve fucking insane?

Bucky was going to die; he was either going to fall to the ground or he was going to hold Steve's hand and be burned alive.

* * *

Bucky hesitantly took hold of Steve's hand. Steve struggled to think about anything other than the comfortable sensation of Bucky's warm, sweaty hand in his.

"Good." He managed. "Now use your other hand to unbuckle the rope from your harness."

Bucky unintentionally squeezed Steve's hand harder as he diverted his attention from remaining on the rope to removing the rope from his harness. Steve's brain nearly imploded.

* * *

Bucky was shaking.

He was certain that Steve could feel it.

He wasn't sure if it was the near-death experience that he had gotten himself into or the fact that Steve's hand was scorching his. He wasn't even sure that he was unhappy in that moment. Sure, being trapped at such a height was torture, but Steve's presence made it the most exquisite form of torture that Bucky could imagine.

"Alright?" Steve asked once Bucky had removed the rope from his harness.

"Alright." Bucky confirmed, nodding his head stupidly.

Steve smiled, making Bucky's knees weak. So weak, in fact, that he lost his footing on the stupid rope and found himself hanging nearly ten feet in the air with only Steve's hand keeping him from the ground.

* * *

Shit, shit, _shit_.

Steve couldn't drop Bucky.

He _could not_ drop Bucky.

Bucky would never forgive him. Steve would never forgive himself. Tony would almost certainly refuse to help Steve out any more. First knocking him over, now dropping him from almost ten feet. Maybe it would be for the best if Steve left Bucky alone.

"I've got you." He said instead. "Buck, I've got you."

* * *

In that moment, Bucky loved Steve so much that it was almost overwhelming. He didn't know if it was the adrenaline or the way that Steve was looking at him, but despite his slippery hands - slick with sweat - and his trembling limbs, Bucky believed him.

Even as his fingers slipped from Steve's grasp one by one, Bucky believed him.

* * *

"No, no, no, Buck, no." Steve panicked as he rapidly lost the ability to keep Bucky from falling.

It was too late.

Bucky shot him one last panicked look before escaping from Steve's grip altogether and dropping straight down to the ground.

* * *

" _Ow_."

Bucky was not altogether surprised that colliding with the ground had really hurt. He was surprised, however, that he had lived through the experience. While his lower back ached from the impact, nothing else appeared to be seriously injured. He flexed his fingers and toes, carefully checking to make sure that nothing was broken.

"Bucky!" The campers immediately dashed over to him. Alex helped him to his feet and looked him over carefully while Tony and Peter tried to gauge whether or not Bucky was too injured to be laughed at.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked.

"Well, I'm never going on a rope course again." Bucky answered with a weak smile.

* * *

Steve crawled across the rope and down the tower only to see that Bucky was perfectly fine. He was standing and smiling at Alex like he had done something truly fantastic.

Alex had, after all, managed to make it two days without injuring Bucky.

Steve did not have such an outstanding record.

Tony cast a Steve a look. Steve accepted the look, adding it to his ever-growing pile of guilt set deep in his stomach. He had officially failed in his effort to get to know Bucky. He knew that Tony wouldn't help him anymore. Steve didn't blame him.

"We should get back to camp." Peter told the rest of the group. "I think that there's a volleyball game happening in ten minutes. That hot guy from the boxing class is going to be there and I'm going to suggest we play shirts versus skins."

The rest of the campers laughed appreciatively. While they were high-fiving and removing their harnesses, Tony made his way over to Steve.

"Ask him to hang back." Tony murmured quietly enough that Steve second-guessed whether or not he had actually heard him correctly.

"What?"

"Ask him to hang back and make sure that he's okay."

"Tony, I don't think -"

"Just trust me."

* * *

"Hey Bucky?" Steve called after Bucky as the boys began to wander towards the edge of the woods. Everyone but Alex and Clint smirked at Bucky knowingly before walking off without him. Alex and Clint left without him, too; they just didn't look nearly as amused about it. Bucky glared after them half-heartedly before turning to face Steve.

"Yeah?"

Steve shuffled a bit closer to Bucky. Bucky struggled to regulate his breathing.

"I, uh, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I really didn't think that would happen. I should have known better and I completely understand if you want to steer clear of my activities for the rest of the summer."

Bucky let out a shaky laugh that he hoped sounded casual. "Don't worry about it. It was my own fault; I wasn't paying attention and lost my footing. Anyway, I don't think that I have any serious injuries, so it's all good. No harm, no foul."

"Really?" Steve couldn't seem to believe that Bucky was forgiving him so easily.

"Sure. It's not like you meant to drop me. I think that you put more effort into rescuing me than any of those other assholes would have." Bucky replied with a nervous shrug that went on for too long. He probably looked like a hunchback.

"I should apologize for yesterday while I'm at it. I really didn't mean to hit you."

"Don't worry about it." Bucky's legs trembled as they walked through the woods. He hoped that he would manage to stay upright until they reached the volleyball court.

"I don't think it's that easy." Steve shot Bucky a bashful smile that nearly did him in.

"I think it is. I forgive you. There." Bucky just wanted Steve to stop being so nice to him. He was desperately in love and Steve was only making it worse.

"Alright," Steve's smile grew a bit brighter. It almost hurt to look at. "Then I want to apologize for the day before that. I shouldn't have barged into your cabin and I definitely shouldn't have assumed that you were...you know."

"Yeah, no, it's no problem. I get it. You're just doing your job." Bucky replied hastily.

Steve just smiled at Bucky for a moment. Bucky's heart hammered against his chest. For a moment, he was genuinely concerned that he was going to vomit all over Steve's shoes. He was terrified that Steve was going to kiss him. He was desperate for Steve to kiss him.

"So, hey," Steve said instead of kissing him, "Do you think that you'd want to sit with me and my friends at dinner tonight? I know that you have your own friends, but I just thought that you could use a friend or two that isn't Tony. Clint already sits with us, if that'll make it less awkward for you." He cast Bucky a hesitant but undeniably warm smile.

Bucky's eyes widened. He stared at Steve for longer than was probably normal, unable to make up his mind. He wanted to be closer to Steve - he wanted to be as close as possible to Steve - but he was hesitant to let himself fall even deeper into the tar pit that was Steve. Steve could have extended this invitation to any of the other campers on other days. He could have hooked up with a bunch of other campers and was just looking to use Bucky.

But then, what if Steve was being genuine? There was a chance - granted, it was a tiny one, but it was there - that he was the only camper getting this kind of attention from Steve. There was a chance that the attention that Steve was heaping upon him actually meant something.

Damn, Bucky wanted it to mean something.

"Okay." He heard himself say.

Steve's smile got impossibly brighter. "Great. I'll see you at the dining hall, then."

Bucky nodded. "Sounds goods."

* * *

As they parted at the volleyball court, Steve couldn't wipe away the stupid smile plastered across his face.

Bucky was going to sit with him at dinner. Bucky had actually agreed - without the influence of Tony, or any of the other campers - to sit with him at dinner. He would get the chance to talk to Bucky in an environment where it would be just a little easier to avoid seriously injuring him.

He was so happy that he went straight to his cabin and pulled his sketchbook out from under his mattress. He flipped through the pages, feeling his face redden as he passed the hundreds of sketches of Peggy. Then he got to the Bucky section.

He was almost ashamed of how many sketches of Bucky he had already completed. Sketches of Bucky when he had arrived at the camp and looked so perfectly lost. Sketches of Bucky when he had been stretched out on a pool chair, basking in the sunlight. Sketches of Bucky when he had crawled out of the pool, his hair plastered against his forehead. Sketches of Bucky trying to glare at Tony, his mouth twitching upwards into an unwanted smile. Sketches of the smile that Bucky awarded the truly worthy.

God, he was so far gone.

He didn't let himself think about the weight of the sketches, though. He forced himself to think about Bucky solely as a model when he drew him. He was just another person to sketch. Just another person who could light up a room just by entering it.

Today he was drawing the easy smile that had crossed Bucky's face when he forgave Steve for all of the terrible things that he had done in the past week. In that moment, Steve had been certain that there was a halo around Bucky's head.

* * *

Bucky saw Steve waiting outside of the dining hall and nearly pinched himself. It was too unbelievable; seeing this gorgeous guy standing around waiting for him. Steve just made it worse by catching sight of him and smiling widely.

"Hey, Bucky!" He waved. As if Bucky could have possibly overlooked him.

"Hey Steve." Bucky stumbled over to Steve. "Ready to eat?"

"That might be an understatement." Steve chuckled as they entered the dining hall. Bucky couldn't shake the feeling that everyone was watching them, wondering just what in the world Steve was doing with such an average boy. He could have done better. Much better.

Bucky tried to ignore the stares as they loaded their plates. He could see that Steve had not been exaggerating when he said that he was ready to eat. His plate was overflowing with food.

"Hey, guys." Steve greeted his friends as he and Bucky approached his usual table. Steve's friends murmured their greetings before resuming their conversations. Clint beamed at Bucky before devoting his full attention to the girl that Bucky assumed was Natasha. Steve smiled at Bucky as they took their seats at the end of the table.

"Are they all counselors? Besides Clint, I mean." Bucky asked by way of making conversation.

"Not all of them. Sam, Peggy, Nat, Jane, Darcy, and Thor are counselors, but everyone else is a camper. That's Angie, Peggy's girlfriend. I think you met her a few days ago. That's Skye; I don't really know who she's sitting with. That's Loki; he's a complete dick, but he's Thor's brother, so we put up with him."

"What about that kid? What's he doing here?" Bucky nodded towards a kid that looked about six. Steve followed Bucky's gaze and laughed.

"That's Mike. He's Coulson's kid. He's always hanging around the camp. I'm teaching him how to draw. My entire wall is just covered in his pictures. He sends me about ten a day."

"That's Mike." Bucky murmured, mostly to himself. He suddenly felt ridiculous for letting himself get jealous of the stranger that he had thought Mike up to be. Steve wasn't receiving love letters from some other camper that he was stringing along; he was receiving drawings from an excited six year-old.

"Huh?" Steve didn't seem to hear him.

"Oh, uh, I didn't know that you could draw." Bucky said, his face reddening.

"Yeah, well," Steve mumbled bashfully. "I'm not great at it, but I like it. I'm applying to art school this year."

"That's really cool. What kind of art do you do?"

"Sketches mostly."

"Think I could see them sometime?"

Bucky was intentionally giving Steve an opportunity to invite him back to his cabin. Steve didn't seem to notice. He took a sudden interest in his dinner roll. Bucky felt like a complete idiot.

"Uh, sure. You're welcome to see them anytime you'd like."

"Are you sure?" Bucky felt like the opposite was true.

Steve nodded, not meeting his eyes. "Anytime."


	7. Chapter 7

**Day Seven**

Bucky couldn't bring himself to feel too disappointed by the fact that dinner with Steve hadn't led to any romantic proclamations or makeout sessions behind one of the cabins. He allowed himself to bask in the sensation of being the only camper that Steve seemed to be taking an interest in. He was special after all.

"What do you think he sketches?" Alex asked after Bucky told him and Clint about his dinner conversations with Steve. They were drifting along the lake in a shoddy canoe while Tony, Bruce, and Peter were actually paddling around in another canoe. Bruce and Peter were enduring Tony's commands. Tony was posed at the front of the canoe, obviously imitating the famous picture of George Washington standing at the bow of a boat.

Bucky shrugged. "Beats me. He didn't really seem to want to talk about. He just kept staring at his food until I completely changed the subject. You don't think it's anything weird, do you?"

"Define weird." Clint grinned.

"Sponge art." Bucky mumbled.

"You've seen that video?" Clint looked beside himself with joy.

"Unfortunately."

"Oh my gosh, _wiggles_." Clint shook his body.

"No." Bucky glared at him.

" _Is this fun or WHAT_?"

"Stop."

"Oh, a virgin edge!"

"I will sink this damned boat." Bucky threatened. His mouth curved into a smile that he couldn't bite back.

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Alex looked from Bucky to Clint with a concerned stare.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Bucky assured him.

"It's the greatest video of all time." Clint interjected.

"I'm just hoping that Steve isn't some crazy artist with weird habits. I don't know. Maybe I'm overthinking it. I usually do. It's probably nothing to worry about. He's probably just shy about showing his work to other people."

"Yeah, but he likes you." Clint reminded Bucky. "He should want to show you something like that."

"Maybe you should go to his cabin and ask to see his sketches. He said 'anytime,' didn't he?" Alex agreed.

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Hey, Tony!" Clint leaned over the side of the boat to catch Tony's attention.

"What? Can't you see that I'm trying to win the Revolutionary War over here?" Tony demanded indignantly.

"Yeah, yeah. This'll only take a second." Clint rolled his eyes. "D'you know where Steve is right now? Or when he's gonna be back in his cabin?"

Tony's gaze shifted from Clint to Bucky. His mouth curved into a wry smile.

* * *

"Just show him. He likes you. He went to dinner with you. He doesn't seem to scare easy. Just show him." Steve mumbled to himself, his voice muffled by the sketchbook he had placed directly over his face.

It had been twelve hours since Bucky had asked about his sketches and Steve still did not know how to respond. He wanted to show Bucky everything. He wanted Bucky to see exactly how he viewed him; perfect. What he did not want, however, was to send Bucky away screaming.

"I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of this." Nat supplied unhelpfully from across the room. "Anyone would be flattered to have someone draw a picture of them. Nobles used to pay people to do it all of the time."

"Yeah, but they posed for those. Bucky doesn't even know that these exist. And some of them are from the first day of camp. That can't make me look good."

"I wouldn't say that. They make you look like a romantic."

"He'll think I'm a psychopath."

"If he does, then he obviously isn't for you."

"But I want him so bad." Steve whined, placing his hands on top of the sketchbook in a display of agony.

"Then do something about it. Show him the stupid sketches."

"What if he doesn't like the way he looks?"

"Then he probably has a problem with mirrors, too. Your sketches look exactly like him, Steve."

"What am I supposed to say to him when he sees them?"

"How about 'I've been desperately in love with you since the moment I saw you and I'll drive my best friend absolutely insane if you don't love me back'?"

"That could use some work."

A knock on the door diverted Steve's attention from his despair. He removed the sketchbook from his face and looked at Nat curiously. All of the other counselors had activities and Coulson was tied up in a budget meeting. Steve couldn't imagine who was on the other side of the door.

"I'll get it." Nat rolled her eyes and sauntered over to the door.

She was so cool.

Steve wished that he could steal just a fraction of her cool and aloof persona. It would be incredibly handy to have around Bucky.

"Oh, Bucky." Nat's voice sounded from the other side of the cabin.

Steve's eyes widened. He threw his sketchbook under his bed and dashed over to the mirror. He looked like a disaster. His hair was sticking up at all angles, his clothes were wrinkled, and there were lines across his face where his sketchbook had been resting. He was in no state to see Bucky.

"Uh, hi. Is...Steve here? This is his cabin, isn't it?" Bucky's uncertain voice made Steve's heart jump in his chest.

"It sure is. He's back in his room. I'll see you later."

"Oh, you, uh, you don't have to leave. I was just…"

"No, it's fine. I actually have a very important meeting with your cabin-mate right about now. Have fun." Steve could hear the laughter in Nat's voice.

He cringed as he waited for Bucky to step into the disaster that was his existence.

* * *

 _Fuck_.

If Steve looked good when he was alert and composed, he looked damn near devastating when he was lazy and bedraggled. His hair was ruffled, his clothes were hanging from his body, and his eyes were soft and kind. Bucky nearly turned around and ran straight out of the door.

"Bucky," Steve's voice kept him trapped in place. "Hey. What're you doing here? I thought that you were taking over the lake with Tony."

"I was." Bucky nodded dumbly. "But then we finished. The lake isn't very big."

"No, it isn't." Steve agreed, still looking at Bucky curiously.

Maybe this had been a mistake.

Maybe having dinner with Steve didn't mean anything to him. Maybe he just considered Bucky a friend; a friend that was now inviting himself into his cabin. A friend that was overstepping some serious boundaries.

"I was just wondering if I could see your sketches. You know, the ones we were talking about last night. You don't have to show me if you don't want to, I just...uh...well, you said anytime and I just thought…" God, he was an idiot.

"Oh." Steve said. "Yeah, right. The sketches. I'd forgotten about that."

Of course he had. While Bucky was agonizing over what Steve might be thinking up and drawing, Steve was lounging around his cabin with Natasha. He probably hadn't given their conversation a second thought.

"I'm sorry. If I'm bothering you I can just…"

"No, no, you're not bothering me." Steve shook his head, a warm smile crossing his face. "I told you anytime, didn't I? No time like the present."

Steve sat down on his bed and patted the space next to him. Bucky stared at that space. That space was so full of promise. So close to Steve.

Alone. In a cabin. On a bed. With Steve.

Bucky's legs trembled and threatened to buckle out from under him as he crossed the room and perched at the very edge of the bed. He didn't trust himself to relax quite yet.

Steve didn't seem to notice Bucky's nerves. He just leaned over and pulled a notebook out from under the bed. It was very clearly worn; papers were jutting out from every angle, the cover was nearly falling off, and the smudged words "Property of Steve Rogers" were scrawled across the front page.

Steve Rogers.

Bucky hadn't known that Steve's last name was Rogers.

He liked it.

It fit.

Steve handed the book over, eying Bucky cautiously. He was probably worried that Bucky might tear a page out on accident. Bucky was worried about the very same thing. His concern evaporated almost entirely as he sifted through the sketches, though.

"These are really good, Steve." He murmured as he flipped through each page.

There were drawings of animals, plants, scenery, and, of course, Peggy. Bucky couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous that she had held his attention long enough for him to draw so many pictures of her. He had clearly worshiped every single line of her.

Steve beamed at Bucky's compliment.

"Thanks. Oh, ah, I don't know if you should look at the more recent stuff. It isn't really good." He said, reaching his hands out towards the book. He seemed eager to get it out of Bucky's hands as quickly as possible. Bucky held it out of reach with a playful smile.

"I'm sure it's great." He reached over to the book and flipped through the pages until he reached something that forced him to pause.

There were a number of sketches that looked eerily similar to him. Bucky turned to look at Steve for some kind of explanation.

"Shit." Steve mumbled instead. His face was dark red, his eyes were averted, and his mouth was curved downward into a severe frown. Bucky took his behavior as a confession. His heart raced and a smile lit across his face.

"Is this…" Bucky was hesitant to even ask. "Is this me?"

"It's weird. I know it's weird. I'm really sorry. I didn't mean…" Steve rambled, shaking his head and looking thoroughly embarrassed. Bucky couldn't stop smiling.

Steve drew him. Steve had actually taken the time to look him over and recreate the image of him on paper. And it wasn't even that he had done it just once - he had done it numerous times. He had drawn him at least twenty times in seven days. Bucky was beside himself with happiness.

"Why are you sorry?" He was almost afraid to ask. He didn't want to let anything ruin the bubbly sensation in his stomach.

"Because I know that you don't feel that way about me. You've got Alex and now I've -"

"Alex? I don't care about Alex. I've just been worried about how you felt about me."

"You…?"

"How do you feel about me, Steve?" Bucky was shaking with excitement.

"I want you." Steve answered simply. His face was red but his eyes were certain.

"In what way?" Bucky asked suspiciously. "As a model? As a friend? As...more?"

"Yes. To all of that. And more. I want you in every way. In any way that you'll let me have you." Steve replied, watching Bucky carefully. He looked serious but apprehensive. He was telling the truth but looked very unoptimistic about the outcome of the conversation.

Bucky could hardly believe it.

Steve was afraid of rejection.

As if anyone would ever reject him.

"I…" Bucky's mouth dried up. He was at a loss for words.

Steve seemed to take Bucky's silence as a bad sign. He looked down at the ground and let out a sigh.

"I like you."

Steve's head snapped back up. He looked at Bucky incredulously.

"You do?"

"Of course I do! How have you not noticed? I'm a mess every time I'm around you. Why do you think I fell over during boxing? I was too busy thinking about you to notice anything. I fell off those damned ropes because you held my hand and I lost my entire train of thought. I haven't exactly been subtle about it." Bucky probably shouldn't have been admitting to any of those things. They were embarrassing and Steve might not have liked him well enough to overlook that.

"Let me take you out." Steve said.

Apparently he was not put off by Bucky's confession.

"How? We're stuck at camp." Bucky reminded him.

Steve shrugged. "I've got the night off in two days. I can borrow Coulson's car. I'll sneak you out of Sam's cabin just after lights out and have you back before morning roll call."

Bucky grinned stupidly. "It's a date."

* * *

 **Yaaaaaaaaaas. The babies have finally found their words. I love it.**

 **Oh, also, the sponge video. I'm still not certain why I made the reference, but it seemed like youthful Clint would be all over watching and making fun of viral videos. If you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, this is it:** **watch?v=V_OVxxIvqVw**

 **Anyhow.**

 **Next chapter is Steve and Bucky's date. Who's excited? I am! It's going to be a much longer chapter than the ones I've previously posted, though, so please be patient with me. I think they've earned a nice, long date after all of their awkward moments.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Day Nine**

"Where are you going to go?" Alex asked as they watched the rest of Bucky's cabin mates assault each other with water guns and water balloons.

"I don't know." Bucky replied, unable to keep himself from smiling stupidly. He kept sneaking glances at where Steve was hosting a support group. He had asked Bucky to avoid sitting in one that particular group - he had admitted that Bucky's presence would distract him from the rest of the group members.

 _Bucky's_ presence would distract _Steve_.

Bucky could hardly believe it.

"What are you going to do?" Alex asked.

Bucky shrugged. "I don't know."

"What do you know?" Alex asked with a laugh.

"Not much." Bucky admitted. "I don't even know what I'm going to wear. I didn't really pack like I was going to be dating a fucking god among men. I packed like I was going to be suffering for two months."

"A god among men?" Alex echoed with an amused grin. "Does Steve know that you've already put him up on such a high pedestal?"

"He owns a mirror. He probably already knows."

"I don't think so. He doesn't act like it. Anyway, I'm sure you'd look good wearing anything."

Bucky glared at Alex without much bite. "Liar."

Alex rolled his eyes. "Bucky, why do you think that Steve asked you out? It isn't like he's had much time to absorb your sparkling personality. He probably thinks that you're hot, too."

"Really? You don't think that I wooed him with my clumsiness and inability to say four words around him?"

"Nah, I think it was entirely about looks."

"Oh, no. What ever will I do? A hot guy thinks I'm hot."

"So, are you still worried about what to wear?" Alex asked with a knowing grin.

"No," Bucky snuck another look at Steve. Steve noticed and smile back at him. "I guess I'm not. I should probably worry about other things, right? How far do you think he'd want to go on a first date? When he talks I think that he's the kind of guy that would want to wait, but after hearing about all of his stories from Tony and that sex-ed session…" Bucky's face reddened a bit.

Had Alex been anyone else, he would not have felt comfortable discussing the possible outcomes of his date with Steve. However, he and Alex had formed a relatively close friendship since meeting just a few days ago. Being stuck with the same group of people day and night tended to accelerate the friendship process. Knowing Alex for four days felt much closer to knowing him for a year.

"I don't think I'd worry too much about it. It's not like either of you have a room to yourself. What's he going to do, drag you out to the woods? Last time you guys were in the woods together, he nearly killed you." Alex replied with a grin.

"It wasn't his fault. I was the one that got stuck. And hey, you were one of the people telling me to get up there." Bucky reminded him.

"And you listened to me?" Alex feigned surprise. "Bucky Barnes, you should know better than to give into peer pressure."

"I didn't. I gave into Pierce pressure."

Alex groaned at the pun. "Leave my presence."

"Gladly." Bucky laughed. "I've got to shower, anyway. Then I guess I should figure out which one of my ratty shirts best compliments my sparkling personality. I'll see you later, Alex."

"Later, Buck."

* * *

Steve could hardly focus on what each member of the support group was saying. He was much more interested in Bucky and what Bucky was saying to his friend, Alex. He was more interested in what Bucky would say to him that night when they snuck out of camp together. He was more interested in what Bucky would say to him when they were all alone.

A nervous shiver wracked Steve's body.

He had been daydreaming about every single moment of his date with Bucky from the moment that Bucky had said yes. He had spent all of yesterday neglecting his responsibilities, instead watching Bucky and waiting for yet another Bucky Barnes smile.

He had it all planned out: he would take Bucky to the best restaurant in town. Once they finished dinner, they would grab some ice cream at the small ice cream shop that Steve frequented during his time off duty, and then they would walk around town for a little while. They would hopefully have plenty of deep, meaningful talks in that time. After ice cream, Steve would ask Bucky if he was tired. Bucky would yawn and say no even though he was and Steve would just laugh and put his arm around him. They would start to walk back to the car and Bucky would put his head against Steve's shoulder. When they reached the car, Steve could go to open the door for Bucky and Bucky would just give him that smile and then he would lean in and he would kiss him.

"Steve?"

"Yeah, Buck?"

"I'm Melissa."

"Right."

Shit. He was going to get into trouble with Coulson if he didn't stop letting himself get distracted by fantasies of his date with Bucky. He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus on the young girl speaking.

"I was just saying that I think that my bad habits started when I was twelve…"

* * *

"Aren't you dressed up for bedtime?" Tony teased as Bucky slipped on his least muddy pair of shoes.

The whole cabin knew about his date with Steve. They hadn't stopped talking about it since they had heard. Steve had told Natasha, Natasha had told Clint, and Clint had accidentally let it slip during breakfast. Bucky hadn't planned on saying a word about it until it was absolutely necessary.

"Shut up. You're going to get me in trouble with Sam. He can't know that I'm sneaking out." Bucky hissed.

"All ready for your date, Barnes?" Sam questioned from the doorway of his room.

"I, uh, I don't...I mean...I was just...planning on wearing this tomorrow. Sometimes I do that. It saves time in the morning." Bucky lied, his face reddening. He really didn't want to get caught by Sam just a few minutes before his date.

"Relax," Sam laughed. "I know that you're going out with Steve tonight. I'm not going to bust you."

There was a knock on the cabin door. Everyone stared at it expectantly.

"Okay, well, I guess I'll see you guys -"

"Oh, no you don't!" Tony howled, jumping out of his bed and racing towards the door. "I've put too much time and effort into this to let you just walk out the door."

"No, Tony, don't -"

"I got it!"

"Tony, get out of the -" Bucky tried to push Tony out of the way. Unfortunately, Tony managed to wrench open the door before Bucky could successfully fight him off.

* * *

Steve couldn't help but smile at the sight of Tony and Bucky tangled up on the other side of the door. They were both looking at him with dumbfounded expressions while the rest of the occupants of the cabin eyed Steve curiously.

"Hey, Bucky. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes I am." Bucky shoved Tony away from the door and walked out. He slammed the door shut as his cabin mates began to cheer and wolf whistle. Steve laughed nervously.

"So, where are we going?" Bucky looked around curiously.

"Uh, the parking lot. Coulson's car is…" He jerked his hand in the general direction of the parking lot. He had spent so long daydreaming about going on a date with Bucky, but now that the time had come, he had absolutely no idea how to behave.

Did he compliment the way that Bucky looked? Bucky always looked good. He had a certain sparkle in his eyes that made Steve's blood ignite in his veins.

Did he hold Bucky's hand? The last time that he had held Bucky's hand, Bucky had fallen off of the ropes course.

Did he make light conversation? Steve had never been good at small talk.

Did he tell Bucky what he had planned for the night? Bucky might not have liked any of it.

"So," Bucky had his hands in his pockets and a smile playing on his lips. "This is awkward."

Steve laughed. Bucky always seemed to know what to say.

"I'm sorry. I'm no good at this sort of stuff."

"That's alright. I'm not either." Bucky grinned. Steve's heart hammered against his chest.

"I don't believe that."

Bucky snorted. "Yeah, right."

"What? Do you think that I'm lying?" Steve asked, his mouth twitching into a smile. He couldn't help but smile around Bucky. "You're fucking charming, Barnes."

"Language, Steve." Bucky smirked.

"Yeah, yeah." Steve nodded with a laugh. "You know what I mean. You always just...you make everything look so easy."

"Even rope courses?"

"Maybe not rope courses."

They exchanged nervous smiles as they reached Coulson's car.

Steve paused, uncertain about what sort of behavior was expected. Should he open the door for Bucky, or would Bucky be insulted by that? Steve looked down at his shoes, at the car, and at Bucky. Bucky didn't seem to notice. He just walked right up to the car, pulled at the car door, and looked at Steve when he was unsuccessful in his endeavor.

"It's locked."

"Oh. Right." Steve fumbled for the keys. His face burned as he clicked the button to unlock the doors. "Sorry about that."

He sincerely hoped that he would grow more comfortable around Bucky as the night progressed.

* * *

Bucky was sitting alone in a car with the most beautiful boy that he had ever seen.

Steve had already caught him staring at least five times, but Bucky couldn't help risking another glance at him. He just looked too good to be real. An easy smile played on his lips, his eyes shone under the highway lights, and his biceps bulged every time he turned the wheel even slightly. Bucky suddenly felt very inadequate in his camp clothes.

"Is there something on my face?" Steve asked, casting Bucky an amused smile.

"No." Bucky answered, averting his eyes.

"Good." Steve seemed content with his answer.

Fuck. What was Bucky even doing here? He didn't belong with somebody like Steve. He belonged with somebody _real_. Steve was emphatically _not_ real. He was too nice, too funny, too handsome...it was as though someone had stumbled upon the perfect statue in an art museum and brought it to life.

Was it too late to change his mind? Bucky was suddenly having second thoughts.

Steve would figure out how average he was soon enough. It was only a matter of time until Steve saw right through him and ran off in pursuit of someone better.

"You alright over there?" Steve's eyes darted over to meet Bucky's quickly before returning to the road.

"Y-yeah. Of course. Are you okay?"

He was an idiot. He was an idiot for staring at Steve like a deranged serial killer, he was an idiot for asking if Steve was okay when he was the only one in the car acting normal, and he was an idiot for agreeing to the date in the first place.

"With you? Always." Steve grinned.

* * *

Steve was better than okay. Steve was on cloud nine.

He was, after all, on a date with Bucky Barnes.

As he pulled up in front of the restaurant that he had so carefully selected, he briefly wondered if Bucky wanted him to rush around and open the door for him. Bucky once again unwittingly answered Steve's question by jumping out of the car on his own and looking around the parking lot.

Steve nervously led the way into the restaurant. He hoped that Bucky liked the food. It wasn't until he had called the restaurant to make reservations the day before that he realized that he had no idea what kind of food Bucky liked to eat. He didn't even know if Bucky was allergic to anything.

"Name?" The snobbish host asked, eying Steve and Bucky suspiciously.

"Rogers. Steve Rogers."

The host stared at Steve for a moment before glancing down at the large leather book sitting in front of him.

"I'm sorry, sir. We have no records of a reservation for a Steve Rogers."

"What?" Steve's face burned with sudden embarrassment. "No, I...I called yesterday. I -"

"Oh. My apologies. I found it."

Relief washed over Steve.

"It looks like your reservation was made for tomorrow evening."

 _Fuck_.

"And you don't think…"

"We're full."

"Of course." Steve nodded his head, feeling incredibly foolish. With great reluctance, he turned to Bucky. "Bucky, I'm sorry. I…"

"Don't worry about it." Bucky smiled and Steve felt infinitely less stupid. He smiled back hesitantly.

"Alright. Uh, thanks." Steve nodded at the snobby host before shuffling out of the restaurant with Bucky at his heels. "Well, hey, uh, I'm sorry that didn't pan out, but there's this great ice cream place nearby that you don't have to have reservations to eat at."

"Sounds good."

Bucky was so great. Steve could hardly believe that Bucky had agreed to go out with him. Bucky was much too good for him.

They walked through the streets of the tiny town, both of the boys remaining silent along the way. Bucky seemed perfectly content to just look around as they walked, having never seen town before. Steve, on the other hand, felt suffocated by the silence.

"Do you like ice cream?" He cringed at his own stupid question.

"Yeah." Bucky's mouth curved into a small smile. "Doesn't everyone?"

"Not the lactose intolerant."

Honestly. Steve needed a dating coach.

"They might still like it," Bucky didn't seem concerned with Steve's inability to be flirty or charming. "It just wouldn't like them back. My dad is allergic to chocolate but he eats it all the time."

"No way. Doesn't he have to go to the hospital or something?"

"Nah. It's not that bad. His face just gets really red. It's actually pretty funny."

"Are you allergic to chocolate?" Steve wanted to keep the conversation going for as long as possible. He liked the effortless smile that played on Bucky's lips when he talked about something familiar. It was like he was inviting Steve right into his memories.

"No, thank god. I don't think that I could give it up. I'm allergic to avocados, but I don't mind that as much. Never had them, don't know what I'm missing."

"Seriously? Ah, man. Avocados are the _best_."

Bucky gave Steve a crooked smile that nearly destroyed him. "Now why would you tell me that?"

"I don't know." Steve laughed, running a hand through his hair. "I just thought that you'd want to know. Color blind people always ask their friends to describe certain colors to them; I thought that it might be the same sort of thing."

"It isn't. I'm happy not knowing what I'm missing. What about you? Do you have any allergies that I can make more difficult for you?" Bucky teased, bumping into Steve's shoulder playfully.

Steve laughed. The sound was a little bit frantic. He couldn't help it. He was just so unbearably _happy_. Bucky was smiling, the conversation was moving along effortlessly, and for the first time since Peggy had left him for Angie, everything in Steve's life just felt right.

"Used to be allergic to everything." He confessed with a grin.

"Used to be? What, did you suddenly decide to stop one day?"

"Something like that. Years of going to the doctor finally paid off, I guess."

"Years? Jesus. That couldn'tve just been allergies." Bucky remarked, eying Steve in surprise.

Steve shrugged. "No, but the allergies were part of the problem. I was just a really scrawny, sickly kid. You can't expect much more than that from someone living in a government-sponsored orphanage, really. Anyway, Tony's dad sort of took me under his wing, got me a few appointments with some great doctors that he knew, and once I started living here and eating better, I-"

"Became an Olympian?" Bucky provided with a laugh.

"I wouldn't go that far." Steve rolled his eyes. "My lungs still hurt when it's cold out."

"Maybe you shouldn't have ice cream, then."

"And maybe your dad shouldn't have chocolate. Some things are just worth it."

* * *

Oh, god.

Bucky loved him.

Bucky loved him _so much_.

Not that he could tell Steve that, of course. Steve would take one look at him before running all the way back to camp. They had only known each other for a few days, for Christ's sake. Bucky had no right to love him. But then, Steve had no right to make Bucky love him.

"Fuck," Bucky heard Steve mumble under his breath. "This can't be happening."

Bucky's eyes snapped up from the pavement. He looked around in absolute terror. Had he been speaking? He had watched more than a few movies where people had done that. It had been funny in the movies, but now...Steve would never talk to him again. Never look at him again. A lump formed at the base of Bucky's throat.

"Bucky, I'm really sorry."

 _Here it comes_ , Bucky thought, trying to swallow around the lump. _The apology. The pity and the awkward promise to "put this whole thing behind us". A future in which Steve never looks at me again._

"I thought for sure this place was foolproof." Steve grumbled instead. "Have you ever heard of an ice cream place closing because it's _too hot_?"

What?

Bucky looked at the door that they were standing in front of. He hadn't even noticed the sign on the door. When he read it, he could have cried out of sheer relief.

 **Sorry! Temporarily closed.**

 **Air conditioner broke, ice cream melted. Too hot!**

 **Come back next week and try our new twist on Rum Raisin! :)**

* * *

It felt like everything that Steve had planned was turning to shit right before his eyes. First the restaurant had messed up his reservations and now the ice cream place was closed. Walking around the town was out, too. The idea of it had seemed much more romantic in his head. Now that they were out in the sticky heat with mosquitoes nipping at their legs, Steve knew better than to even suggest it.

"Jesus," Bucky chuckled. "You're really terrible at planning dates, aren't you?"

"Apparently I am." Steve admitted sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I don't...I don't really know what to do. This was all that I had."

"Aw, c'mon. You're a counselor. Isn't thinking on your feet your whole thing?"

"Not really. Coulson pretty much always tells me what to do."

* * *

Bucky wasn't ready for his first date with Steve to end just yet. It hadn't even been an hour since Steve had showed up at his cabin. If he let Steve end the date now, he knew that he would never get another chance. He couldn't give Steve up. Not yet.

"I have an idea." He said, his voice laced with anxiety. Steve looked at him in surprise. "Is there a grocery store around here?"

"There's a Walmart."

"That'll have to do." Bucky tried to smile. Steve immediately smiled back.

As they walked through the streets in the direction of the car, Steve kept looking at Bucky. Bucky tried so hard not to notice. He wanted to appear just as cool and aloof as Steve. Steve didn't seem to notice. He just kept looking at Bucky and casting him warm smiles that sent Bucky's heart to the bottom of his ribcage and to the top of his throat all at once.

"So what exactly are we doing here?" Steve asked once they reached Walmart. He picked up a shopping basket and loped alongside of Bucky easily. Bucky couldn't help but envy how easy Steve's whole demeanor was. It was so damn enticing.

"I thought I'd cook you dinner."

"You can cook?" Steve lit up. Bucky felt his face flush.

"Not well," Bucky shrugged, pulling a few items off of the shelves and tossing them into the basket that Steve was holding. "But it's better than nothing, right?"

* * *

Bucky was the most amazing person that Steve had ever met.

Within twenty minutes, he had thrown an assorted bunch of ingredients into the basket and explained that he would be attempting to make some kind of pasta. He had also offered to pay despite not having any money with him. He was perfect. Truly perfect.

Steve filled the drive back to camp with light conversation about cooking, eating, and avocados. Bucky seemed more than happy to participate; he laughed, he shook his head, he gave Steve that disarming smile of his…

"Think you can sneak us into the dining hall?"

Steve had to laugh at Bucky's question. There wasn't a thing that he wouldn't have done for Bucky in that moment.

"I'll go get the keys from the front office."

* * *

So Steve Rogers was a rule breaker.

Bucky couldn't help but smirk to himself as he threw together a meal that his mom had taught him to cook when he was much younger. He doubted that she had taught him how to cook for the purpose of impressing hot camp counselors, but the intention didn't really matter. The only thing that mattered was that Bucky knew how to cook and Steve was looking at him like he was doing something truly amazing.

"That smells great." Steve jumped up to sit on the counter and watch over Bucky's actions.

Bucky didn't bother telling Steve that he was probably just smelling the olive oil. He just wanted to bask in the proud look on Steve's face for a little while longer.

"Should be ready in a minute or two." He said instead.

"Great." Steve grinned and jumped back down to the floor. "I'll get some plates."

* * *

Bucky was a great cook. That was both a good thing and a bad thing.

It was a good thing because Steve loved good food. He loved that he and Bucky had not spent the rest of their date being hungry and dancing around the subject of the ruined reservations that Steve had tried to make. He loved the bashful smile that crossed Bucky's face whenever he tried to compliment the food.

It was a bad thing because Bucky was already so incredible and Steve was beginning to feel that Bucky was more and more out of his league with every passing moment. He was paranoid that maybe Bucky was realizing the same exact thing.

"Where do I put all of the dishes? I'm usually on the other side of the kitchen." Bucky asked, drawing Steve's attention away from his own concerns. He was standing at the end of the table, holding a pile of dishes and staring at Steve expectantly.

"Hey, no, you already made dinner. Let me clean up." Steve had to level the playing field somehow.

"You paid for the stuff. All I did was boil some pasta and throw some stuff into a bowl."

"Let me clean up."

"Fine." Bucky assented, surrendering the dishes over to Steve.

* * *

Once the kitchen was cleaned up, Steve and Bucky decided to leave the dining hall. It wasn't exactly the most romantic venue to begin with and it seemed like Steve was beginning to grow concerned that Coulson might catch them at any given moment.

They started walking in the direction of the cabins. It seemed like Steve was shepherding Bucky back to his cabin. Bucky wondered if that meant the date was over.

He glanced down at his watch. It _had_ been three hours since they had originally set out on the date. That was about the normal length of time for a date. Still, it didn't feel like enough. Bucky doubted that it would ever feel like enough.

His cabin came into sight.

The date was almost over.

Was Steve going to kiss him before he returned to his cabin? Bucky wanted him to.

They were maybe five feet away from the cabin door when Steve suddenly stopped short.

Oh, god.

This was it.

The end of the date kiss.

"I don't know about you, but I don't really want to say goodbye yet. I, uh, I like spending time with you, Bucky."

That wasn't a kiss.

* * *

Bucky stared at Steve for at least thirty seconds after he spoke. His facial expression was unreadable. Steve tried not to let his nerves show as he waited for Bucky to say something - _anything_ \- that would indicate that despite the date's awful beginning, he had enjoyed himself.

"Uh, yeah." Bucky murmured absently. He didn't meet Steve's eyes.

Steve didn't know what to make of Bucky's answer. He didn't sound particularly willing to spend any more time with Steve, but he might've just been tired. Steve liked to believe that he was just tired.

"But I guess we have all summer to spend together, don't we?" Steve cringed as soon as the words left his mouth. One date in and he was already talking about some kind of commitment. This was why Peggy had left him for Angie. He should have asked Angie for dating tips prior to going out with Bucky.

"Unless I take another stab at the ropes course and wind up killing myself before the summer is over." Bucky replied with a small smile. Steve let out a nervous laugh.

"Maybe you should avoid dangerous activities. Or at least, the ones that I run. You always end up falling down and I think that Coulson is going to start picking up on the fact that I'm a liability issue."

"What can I say? I just couldn't help falling for you." Bucky chuckled.

* * *

Oh, god.

Why did he say that? Why would he _ever_ say that? Not only was it crazy to say after just one date - it was a _terrible_ pun. Steve was never going to ask him out again. There was no way that Steve would want to get himself mixed up in that kind of crazy.

* * *

A lump formed in Steve's throat. He forced himself to smile.

He knew that Bucky was just cracking a joke. He understood that fact perfectly in an abstract kind of a way. His heart, though...his heart was ready to accept Bucky's joke as a valid confession.

"Yeah, well, maybe hold off on that for a little while. I don't want you getting sent home early."

"I don't really want that, either." Bucky agreed with a devastating smile. "I don't think I'm ready to be home just yet. This place seems like heaven compared to home."

"Really? I don't remember Brooklyn being that bad."

"Brooklyn itself is great." Bucky agreed. "My parents, though…"

Steve struggled to bite back a smile. It was an inappropriate time to smile - Bucky was on the brink of talking about something personal and probably painful - but Steve was just so damn _happy_ that Bucky was comfortable enough to talk about something like his parents. Bucky probably hadn't told any of his other friends about his parents. He probably hadn't even told Alex that he was from Brooklyn.

"That bad?" Steve tried to sound supportive yet casual. He sat down on the doormat of Bucky's cabin. Bucky followed suit before meeting Steve's eyes and crooking a smile.

He snorted and nodded his head. "You could say that. My Ma...she's not so bad -"

Steve's heart warmed at the way Bucky called his mother "Ma".

"But my dad...I don't know. We're either too much alike or polar opposites. I don't really know which it is yet. Either way, we can't stand each other. If we're in the same room for longer than ten minutes, World War III breaks out. He's the reason I'm here."

Steve was suddenly very thankful for Mr. Barnes.

"Maybe spending some time out of the house will help the two of you reconcile your differences." Steve suggested. He really didn't know what else to say. He didn't have much experience with parents.

"Maybe. I don't know. I just can't wait to move out."

"You're not far off from that, are you?"

Bucky shrugged, not meeting Steve's eyes. "I'm seventeen. Still got another year of high school."

"A year isn't so bad, especially if you spend a lot of time out of the house. Do you know where you want to go to college yet?" Steve hoped that it would be somewhere nearby. He knew that he shouldn't have been concerning himself with Bucky's future, and yet…

"I don't think I'm going to college."

"Really?" Steve quirked an eyebrow in surprise.

"Yeah." Bucky replied with another shrug. "There isn't much money in my family and I doubt my dad would spend what money we _do_ have sending me to school. I'm thinking about enlisting instead. They'll pay for my school afterwards."

"Ah." Steve didn't quite know what to say about that. "Well, that's not a bad plan, either. My dad was in the army."

"Really?" Bucky looked surprised.

"Yeah. He got tons of medals." Steve replied. He wondered if he sounded like he was bragging.

"Maybe you could teach me a few things before I enlist, then. It looks like you're in better shape than me, anyway." Bucky teased. He nodded towards Steve's arm with a playful grin. Steve couldn't do much more than smile back stupidly and scramble for an answer.

"I don't know if that's a good idea. I might hurt you."

"I don't think you will."

"I think that you're putting too much faith in me."

"Maybe I am." Bucky agreed with a small smile. He had leaned a bit closer to Steve as he spoke. His words were laced with intent. Steve's eyes widened as he stared at Bucky uncertainly.

* * *

Bucky had totally thrown himself at Steve.

He had lowered his voice, leaned closer, and stared at Steve's lips. Every action had terrified him, but for once he wasn't second guessing himself. He wanted Steve to kiss him. He wanted it bad enough that if Steve didn't initiate the kiss, he would.

"Hm." Steve murmured. His eyes were half-shut as he leaned closer to Bucky. Bucky's heart hammered against his chest as he waited for the inevitable.

And then Steve kissed him.

Bucky was relatively certain that Ben Franklin would have discovered the secrets behind electricity _years_ before his key on the kite exploit if he had just kissed Steve Rogers. A shock went through his body and short-circuited his brain. He struggled to process the fact that Steve was kissing him.

 _Steve was kissing him._

Unfortunately, it didn't last nearly long enough.

"Bucky!" Tony's voice wafted through the cabin window. "Dude, you've got to get in here. Sam said that there's a counselor walking around to make sure nobody's out of bed."

Typical.

"Yeah, but I'm with a counselor." Bucky hissed back.

"That actually won't help. I'd just get in trouble for letting you sneak out." Steve mumbled, rubbing the back of his head and smiling bashfully. Bucky returned his smile. His cheeks burned with embarrassment.

"Then I guess I should go." Bucky said, climbing to his feet.

"Yeah, probably." Steve agreed, also climbing to his feet.

"Alright." Bucky mumbled awkwardly.

"Alright." Steve agreed with a laugh.

"Oh, for god's sake. Just shut up and kiss." Tony groaned from the window.

Bucky and Steve both glared in the general direction of the window before facing each other again. They both smiled awkwardly.

"Well…" Steve didn't really finish his sentence. He just leaned forward and pecked Bucky's lips with his own. Bucky just stared back at him stupidly.

"Night." Steve cast Bucky a grin that just about killed him.

Before Bucky could manage to stammer out some kind of response, Steve turned around and began walking back in the direction of his cabin. Bucky took a moment just to watch as Steve disappeared from view.

"Goodnight." He murmured to himself.

* * *

 **Yes, I know that I skipped day eight. That's going to start happening a little bit more. The first week was necessary for ground work, but you can't expect me to write about every single day in the summer. I would die. SO. I'm going to write about the important days spanning the summer. Let's not focus on that. Let's focus on THE FACT THAT THESE TWO DUM DUMS FINALLY WENT ON A DATE AND KISSED YAAAAS.**

 **Let's also celebrate the fact that I made it through this super long chapter because it was a killer.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Day Sixteen**

"Bucky!" Sam's voice rang out through the woods. It was laced with frustration. "Damn it, Bucky. This is the fifth time that you've run off today. Coulson is about to take away my one night off this week if I lose you again. Get your ass back to the cabin."

"He sounds mad." Steve observed with a small smile. "Maybe you should get back."

"Nah." Bucky shook his head and placed another kiss on Steve's perfect lips. "He's always mad. He'll just find something else to get mad about if I go back to the cabin. Not worth it." He kissed Steve again.

Steve smiled against Bucky's lips before pulling away. "You're going to make him lose his night off."

"And he's going to make me lose my Steve time."

" _Steve time_?" Steve echoed with an amused smirk.

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Shut up."

"No, I want to hear more about Steve time."

"Punk."

"Jerk."

"Bucky!" Sam's voice was getting louder. Bucky turned around and grinned in the general direction of the sound.

"You should really go." Steve reminded him.

"Can I see you tonight?"

Steve thought for a moment. "I've got a support group session until eleven. I've got to walk the campers back to their cabins afterwards so they don't get in trouble. Coulson will definitely have a counselor walking around by then."

Bucky let out a frustrated noise. It had been a week since their first date and it had grown increasingly difficult to spend time with Steve. Before their date, it seemed like there was no escaping the devastatingly handsome and inexplicably nice counselor, but now that they were together...the forces were conspiring against them.

Bucky still went to Steve's activities, of course, but watching Steve from afar was not nearly as interesting as being up close and personal with him. Bucky had watched him from afar enough for one lifetime. During meals Bucky would sit at the counselor's table, but it was nearly impossible to hold Steve's undivided attention when Natasha was flinging food at him and Thor was challenging him to arm wrestling matches. Sneaking off was the only chance that Bucky had to spend some quality time with Steve.

"When is your next night off?"

"Wednesday. Unless Sam catches us again. Then Coulson might push it back to next week." Steve answered, glancing over Bucky's shoulder to see if Sam had found them yet.

"I'm going to kill him." Bucky grumbled.

"Then you'd go to jail. I think you get even less nights off when you're in jail."

"You might be right."

Steve laughed and kissed Bucky. "Go back to your cabin. I'll see you at dinner."

"Fine." Bucky sighed in the most put-upon tone he could manage. It was not very convincing. It couldn't have been. Bucky was just too damned happy to manage a disappointed tone. He was, after all, dating Steve Rogers. "I…"

A lump formed in Bucky's throat.

Shit.

He was not going to tell Steve that he loved him. Not yet. They had only been dating for a week. Steve would think that he had lost his mind.

"I hope they have cake again."

Bucky hated himself.

That was possibly the least believable cover he had ever used. It was certainly the dumbest.

Steve, ever patient Steve, just smiled. "Me too. I'll see you, Buck."

* * *

"Is it bad that I wanted him to say it?" Steve asked Nat as he helped her walk a final lap around the camp for the night. He knew that he should have let her do her job in peace, but he couldn't help it. He needed to talk to somebody.

"Considering you only went on your first date a week ago? I would say so." Nat answered, shining her flashlight into the woods. It was more of a formality than anything, but they both knew that Coulson was growing increasingly strict about campers sneaking out. Neither of them wanted to get in trouble for letting campers get away with running around camp in the middle of the night.

"I know." Steve groaned, running a hand through his hair. "It's too early. But I really thought that he'd say it, you know? He was just looking at me like he...I don't know. It's stupid."

"Yes it is." Nat agreed with a smile. "But I'm glad that my little Stevie has found love again."

"You just told me that it's too early to be in love!" Steve protested.

"No, I told you that it's too early to tell Bucky that you love him. You can be in love with him without telling him about it."

"This is why I don't like getting involved in relationships." Steve grumbled as they walked along the familiar route. "It's like walking through a minefield."

"You'll figure it out." Nat assured him, wrapping an arm around Steve's waist and resting her head on his shoulder. "You're stupid, but you're not hopeless."

"Thanks." Steve mumbled, rolling his eyes.

"Anytime." Nat grinned up at Steve before noticing two shadowed figures a few feet away. A devilish smile crossed her face. "Oh, hey. Looks like we've got a pair out for a moonlit stroll. Should I, or do you want the honors?"

"It's all you." Steve chuckled.

"Hey!" Nat flashed the flashlight in the direction of the figures. Her smile evaporated when the shadowed figures gained enough detail to be recognized.

"Bucky?" Steve's voice was a bit hoarse.

"Hey, Steve." Bucky's smile brightened at the sight of him.

Bucky was sitting outside of his cabin with Alex Pierce. Alex had a cigarette hanging from his mouth and a lazy smile that Steve just hated. Bucky looked perfectly at home. He didn't seem to realize that this was a big deal. Steve looked at Nat helplessly. He didn't know what to do.

"I expected you to know better, Barnes." Nat disapproved, her eyes narrowing. "Pierce, put that cigarette out before I put it out for you. Both of you need to get up and march your asses back into your cabins before I write you up. You won't like it if I do."

Bucky's smile fell. He looked from Nat to Steve, clearly expecting Steve to stand up for him. Steve looked down at his tennis shoes. Pierce just watched the situation with an almost gleeful leer.

"Steve." Bucky said, taking a step closer to Steve. Steve's stomach churned.

"Go." Nat snarled.

"Give me a minute." Bucky said gently. He turned to look at Steve again. "Steve."

Steve shook his head. "Go back to your cabin, Buck."

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve could see Bucky look from him to Alex and then back to him. Realizing that Steve would not be saying whatever it was that Bucky expected from him, Bucky frowned. He spared Steve one last glance before nodding his head and turning around.

"Alright. I'll see you later, Alex. Night, Steve."

Steve just nodded at Bucky. Alex, on the other hand, decided to answer. "Goodnight, Bucky."

Steve loathed the smile that Pierce cast Bucky. He didn't want anybody to feel the right to look at Bucky that way.

"You too, Pierce. Move it. I could have you sent home for the cigarette alone. Don't tempt me." Nat took a menacing step towards Pierce. Pierce didn't seem to mind.

"Of course. Goodnight, Natasha. Steve." He smiled at both of them before turning on his heel and sauntering off in the direction of his cabin. His pace was slow and leisurely. Steve hated him.

"Steve." Nat's voice grew soft the moment that Pierce was out of sight.

Steve swallowed a massive lump in his throat. "I guess that's that, isn't it?"

"Oh, god, no." Nat rubbed Steve's back reassuringly. "You can't think that Bucky was doing anything with Pierce. They're friends. We all know that. He's just a stupid kid."

Steve shrugged sullenly.

"Steve." Nat persisted. "Don't get hung up on this. You can talk to Bucky about it tomorrow. I'm sure that he'll apologize and tell you the same thing that you already know: he and Pierce are just friends. He didn't seem to worried about us spending time together tonight, did he?"

"No, but…"

"But nothing. Everyone is allowed to have friends, Steve."

"I know that. I do." Steve nodded, blinking back the tears burning his eyes. "But Peggy and Angie were friends and…"

"You can't hold that against Bucky. It isn't fair to him." Nat reminded him sternly.

"But what if he decides that he wants Pierce more than he wants me?"

"Then you're going to have to go through a breakup again." Nat answered in that matter-of-fact tone of hers. "And it's going to hurt just as bad as it did the first time. But you've already gone through it once, so you know that it won't kill you. And I'll find some excuse to get him sent home for the rest of the summer."

"Okay." Steve sighed, draping his arm around Nat's shoulder and leaning against her. "But if he leaves me, I'm going to leave it up to you to console me."

"Consider me your extra set of shoulders to lean on."


	10. Chapter 10

**Day Seventeen**

Steve was surprised to find Bucky waiting for him outside of the dining hall first thing in the morning. He didn't do a very good job of disguising his surprise. "Bucky? H-hey."

"Hey," Bucky grinned sheepishly. "Look, I'm sorry about last night. I know that I shouldn't have snuck out of the cabin, but I thought I'd surprise you after your group meeting. I guess I should've assumed that you would have told me if you wanted to see me."

Steve's eyebrows furrowed as they walked into the dining hall. He could not believe that Bucky was apologizing. It seemed too good to be true. There had to be some kind of trap that Bucky was hoping to catch him in.

"I guess Pierce was waiting for me, too?" He couldn't keep the jealous edge out of his voice.

Bucky's smile didn't disappear. He just shrugged. "He saw me standing outside and decided to keep me company while I waited. Natasha isn't really going to get him in trouble for smoking, is she?"

"No," Steve wished that she would. "Not for a first offense. Tell him not to make a habit of it, though. If Coulson starts finding cigarette butts around camp, he'll expect us to send a few culprits home."

"Mm. Counselor Steve gets tough." Bucky winked at Steve playfully as they piled food onto their trays. Steve couldn't help but smile back. Bucky had a way of smiling and making everything all better. Steve loved that about him. Steve loved him.

"Alright, alright," He was too flustered to think of a flirty response to Bucky's teasing. "Let's not discuss camp rules or the protocols of my job."

"Might be hard to do, since we're, y'know, at camp."

"We won't be on Wednesday night." Steve reminded him with a smile.

Bucky's face lit up. The devastating sparkle returned to his eyes. Steve's smile grew at the sight of it.

"Yeah? Do you have anything planned?"

"I thought that we might give dinner another try."

"Really? You trust that dick of a host?" Bucky asked with a laugh.

"No mentioning genitals before lunch, Bucky." The fact that Nat had felt it necessary to make that a frequently enforced rule solely because of Bucky was strangely comical to Steve. He grinned as he took a bite of toast.

"I wasn't talking about the guy's actual dick, I was talking about his personality. That doesn't count." Bucky protested.

"You just mentioned it. You've broken the sacred rule of the table twice now. Three strikes and you have to go sit with Tony." Nat smirked.

Bucky rolled his eyes and returned his attention to Steve. He was still smiling. "So, dinner?"

"Unless you've got any other ideas."

"Well, you know that I'm always fond of the rope course."

* * *

"Hey, Alex." Bucky plopped down next to Alex by the side of the pool around two o'clock. Alex turned to look at him in surprise before smiling.

"Hey, Buck. I thought that you'd be talking to Steve." Alex nodded to where Steve was sitting in the lifeguard chair, torturing everyone with his bulging biceps and perfectly cut abs.

Bucky followed Alex's gaze and grinned. "I thought so too, but apparently he'll get in trouble if Coulson catches him talking to anyone while he's on-duty. So you're stuck with me for the afternoon."

"Fine by me." Alex shrugged. "You're the only one at this stupid camp that I can stand, anyway. So, how'd your talk with Steve go this morning? Did he scold you for breaking the rules last night?"

"It didn't come up." Bucky replied hastily.

"Really? He seemed pretty upset."

"Nah, he was just tired." Bucky said, glancing at Steve involuntarily.

He didn't want Alex to think that there was something wrong with their relationship already. They had only been dating for a week or so. Besides, Steve had seemed fine at breakfast this morning. No point in worrying about problems that didn't actually exist. Bucky did that enough as it was.

"So you told him that the cigarette was yours?" Alex quirked an eyebrow and smirked. Bucky scowled and looked around to see if anyone had overheard. He was thankful that Steve was all the way across the pool from them.

"Shut up." He hissed, his face reddening.

"So you didn't tell him. Why not? Aren't couples supposed to accept each other's' faults?"

"Yeah, but we've only been dating for a week. I'm trying to introduce my faults as gradually as possible. Maybe he never has to know."

"What are you going to do, quit cold turkey? Strange time to do it, don't you think?"

"Not really." Bucky shrugged. "I don't know if my friends back home are going to keep sending me 'care packages' anyway. Might not hurt to stop being dependent on them."

"I thought that you said that you weren't addicted." Alex taunted.

"I'm not." Bucky asserted sulkily. "They just relieve stress."

"Mm. But I suppose that's what Steve's for now, right?"

Bucky bit his lip and glanced in Steve's direction again. "Hopefully."

* * *

Bucky was talking to Pierce again.

Steve clenched his jaw and tried to distract himself by surveying the length of the pool, but as hard as he tried, he could not help himself from looking at Bucky and Pierce. They were sitting close together and talking quietly. They looked like they were planning a mutiny of some sort. Steve didn't like it one bit.

He tried to reassure himself that Pierce wasn't anyone to worry about. Bucky liked him. Bucky ate meals with him, Bucky went on dates with him, and Bucky was waiting for him the night before. Pierce was just a friend that he occasionally passed them time with. Pierce was Bucky's version of Nat. Steve didn't have to be jealous of Bucky's Nat.

"Jealous?" Tony's voice teased from down below. Steve shifted his attention from Bucky and Pierce to Tony. He glared at him.

"No."

"You sure about that? Clint says that you're driving Romanoff crazy with all of your conspiracy theories about those two. Did they really sneak out together last night?"

"Bucky was waiting for me. Pierce just happened to be there, too." Steve snapped. He couldn't keep the defensive tone out of his voice. Tony noticed and grinned.

"Right, right. Look, man. I can distract Pierce if you need me to. You know, find others ways of occupying his time." Tony winked suggestively. Steve rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Tony, I don't need you to -"

"I know you don't. I know that you've got it all covered." Tony never failed to produce the most patronizing speeches. "I'm just offering you a little more reassurance. It wouldn't be any hardship at all. I mean, look at him."

"You always know just what to say, Tony." Steve grumbled.

"Call it a gift." Tony grinned. "But it's not my only gift. Just watch. You might learn something."

* * *

"Hey, Alex!" Tony's loud voice drew Bucky and Alex's attention away from the conversation at hand. Bucky was relieved. He didn't want to risk anyone overhearing Alex's teasing and alerting Steve to his bad habits.

"Yeah, Tony?" Alex turned around to glare at Tony.

"Ouch," Tony placed his hand over his heart and feigned disappointment as he sat down on the other side of Alex. "Here I thought that I would have a nice little chat with my pal Alex. Why all the hostility?"

"Because I know you, Tony. You don't use that tone of voice unless you want something."

"Alright, sue me. I want something."

"What is it that you want?" Alex demanded impatiently.

"A date with you." Tony answered with a wide smile.

Bucky and Alex both stared at Tony incredulously. Tony and Alex hadn't spoken to each other more than five times since camp had started, and their exchanges had never been particularly pleasant. Alex hadn't seemed to pay much attention to Tony and Tony had always had bigger fish to fry than Alex.

"Should I...uh...should I leave you two alone?" Bucky asked awkwardly.

"Yes." Tony replied immediately.

"Don't you dare." Alex countered with a fierce scowl.

Bucky remained where he was, looking from Tony to Alex uncomfortably.

"So, what do you say, Alex? We can sneak out with Barnes and Rogers on Wednesday night and split up when we get to town. It might be fun." Tony suggested with a charming grin. Bucky looked at Alex, unable to look away from the train wreck happening in front of him.

"Why are you asking me out now?" Alex asked dubiously.

"Because you look good without a shirt on. Now is it a yes or a no?" Tony persisted.

"You already know that it's a no." Alex replied, his voice dripping with condescension. "I'm amazed that you even asked. Now would you please give me a little space? I need time to recover from the mental image of us together."

Yeah. That was a pretty disturbing image.

"Is it because of Barnes?" Tony was like a dog with a bone.

"What?" Alex and Bucky chorused.

"Is that why you said no? Because of Barnes?" Tony repeated his question as though it were the most reasonable question in the world.

"What would Bucky have to do with it?" Alex questioned.

"Well, Steve wouldn't say yes to me because he's already hung up on Bucky. Based off of the amount of time that you two spend together, I figured that I might as well ask if you were, too. I wouldn't blame you." Tony replied.

"Fuck off, Tony." Bucky snapped.

"No, I'm curious." Tony didn't take his eyes off of Alex.

"Get out of here, Tony. You've overstayed your welcome." Alex snapped.

"Aw, c'mon, Alex. Give me a chance."

"No." Alex stood up and snatched his towel off of the back of a chair. He tried to walk away, but Tony followed at his heels. Bucky remained where he was, not feeling too inclined to get involved in the newly developing Alex/Tony drama.

* * *

Steve watched as Tony and Alex argued and bickered. Alex looked frustrated and Tony looked impatient. Not altogether surprising, considering their dynamic personalities. At some point in their argument, Bucky turned around and cast Steve an amused grin. Steve smiled back to the best of his ability.

When Tony and Alex were finally through arguing, Alex stormed away from the pool. He walked off in the direction of the cabins. For a moment, Steve was worried that Bucky might follow after him. His relief was immeasurable when instead, Bucky allowed himself to be roped into a game of Marco Polo with Clint.

That relief was temporary.

"Hey, so, remember when I said that you didn't need to worry about Bucky and Alex?" Tony asked, approaching the lifeguard chair and staring up at Steve with a sheepish expression.

"Vaguely." Steve replied sarcastically.

"Well," Tony scratched the back of his head before looking at Steve apologetically. "I think that you might want to start worrying."

* * *

 **Ruh roh. Bad day to be Steve. Anyway, I'll try to update more frequently than I have been as of late...once I get through my first set of exams and papers, I'll have a little more time to write out the drama that these two cannot keep themselves away from. In the meantime...tell me what you think: does Steve have to worry about Alex? Would Bucky ever consider forgetting about Steve and getting with Pierce? Will Tony ever settle down and leave everybody else alone?**

 **I just don't know.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Day Twenty-One**

Going on a second date with Steve Rogers was no less intimidating than going on a first date. Bucky found himself second-guessing everything: his clothes, his jokes, his conversation points…

"You'll be fine." Alex reminded him for the millionth time that day. "You've been dating for over a week. That's two years in camp time. I'm sure that he's had enough time to learn to like you for your sparkling personality, so it really doesn't matter what you wear."

"I don't want him just to like me," Bucky complained. "It's already been two years in camp time."

"You think that you're ready for the "L" word?" Alex asked with an amused grin. He leaned back on Bucky's bed and stared at him appraisingly. Bucky grinned back before turning to look at his reflection in the mirror.

"I don't know. Maybe. I want him to say it first, though, you know? He's so out of my league that it doesn't seem fair for me to have to say it first."

Alex snorted and rolled his eyes. "I don't know why you're so intimidated by him. You're just as attractive as he is. I think your personality might actually push you out of his league."

"Liar." Bucky accused.

Alex shrugged. "Just my opinion."

"Yeah, well, your opinion is shit," Bucky chuckled. "Everyone else at camp knows that Steve is too good for me. I'm surprised that no one's staged a coup to keep us apart yet."

"Jesus Christ, just how insecure are you?" Alex demanded with an amused smirk.

"How much time have you got to discuss that particular subject?"

A knock on the door interrupted their discussion. Bucky looked at his woefully inadequate reflection and cringed. Steve was at the door and he looked like the corpse from the already over-told camp ghost story. Great.

"I'll get it. Give you a minute to compose yourself." Alex said, jumping off of Bucky's bed. He punched Bucky's shoulder playfully on his way over to the door. Bucky cast him a glare that didn't have much bite.

* * *

Pierce answered Bucky's cabin door.

 _Pierce answered Bucky's cabin door_.

Jealousy clawed at Steve's chest. His jaw clenched as he struggled with the urge to push Pierce aside and storm right into the cabin. He counted backwards from ten and reminded himself that he had only been dating Bucky for a week. He didn't have the right to get jealous of his friends. He trusted Bucky.

"Hey Steve," Pierce seemed oblivious to Steve's jealousy. He was smiling like they were in the middle of a pleasant conversation. "Bucky's still getting ready. Have you decided where you guys are going tonight?"

Now Pierce was leaning against the doorway like he owned the place. He was still smiling. Steve's ears were pounding. His vision was turning red.

"Yeah. Thought we'd go for dinner. Is, ah, is Bucky ready yet?" Steve shifted his weight from foot to foot in an effort to dispel some of his energy.

"Dinner, huh? Didn't you do that last time? Not much to do around town, I guess." Pierce ignored his question. Steve clenched and unclenched his knuckles and looked around at all of the witnesses walking around the camp.

"How close you think that Bucky is to being ready?"

Pierce cast him a lazy smile before turning around and looking into the cabin. "Buck, are you done polishing up that sparkling personality of yours? Steve's getting impatient."

"Yeah." Bucky appeared at the door almost instantly. He smiled at Steve and Steve's anger evaporated. "Sorry about that. I thought that I had more time than I actually did. Uh, well, I guess I'll see you later, Alex."

"Count on it, Barnes. Have a good time, guys."

Bucky smiled and clapped Pierce on the back before following Steve towards the parking lot. Steve tried to focus on the fact that he was the one that Bucky was going on a date with. He did not want to let Pierce ruin his date.

* * *

Steve seemed a little bit on edge. Bucky assumed that he had just had a difficult day at work. He didn't want to take it personally.

"So what's the game plan tonight?"

Steve didn't answer him automatically. He just kept staring off in the general direction of the parking lot. Bucky waited a minute or two, hoping that Steve was just taking a while to think about his response. When that period of time passed in silence, Bucky reached out and touched Steve's arm.

"Steve?"

"Huh?" Steve looked like he had just come out of some kind of stupor. Seeing Bucky's concerned expression, he smiled. "Sorry. I was just thinking about my activity tomorrow. I've got to take a bunch of kids to Walmart to get sized for clothes their parents wouldn't let them buy."

"Gotcha." Bucky nodded his head, unable to help feeling just a bit unimportant to Steve. "So, what are we doing tonight?" He hoped that Steve would answer the question the second time around.

"I was going to take you dinner," Steve answered as they got into the car. He looked over at Bucky. Bucky's knees went weak as their eyes met. "But Pierce seemed to think that wasn't enough. I don't suppose you have any ideas?"

"I'm going to kill him." Bucky grumbled. Alex should have known better than to intervene in his relationship with Steve. Bucky had made it perfectly clear that the entire relationship was fragile. Any outside factor could damage it.

"While that is a fun date idea, I don't think I can go to jail tonight. I'm booked till the end of the summer." Steve chuckled, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot. His eyes shifted from Bucky to the road. That gave Bucky more capacity to think rationally.

"I don't know what there is to do in town." Bucky admitted. "I've only been there once."

"There isn't much. Walmart is just about it."

"Is there any other town nearby?"

"Uh...well…" Steve glanced down at his watch like he was considering something.

"Is there?"

"D.C. is about half an hour away."

" _Washington_ D.C.?" Bucky clarified incredulously.

"Yeah. Why do you look so surprised?"

"Because this whole time, I thought we were in New York."

"You thought that after a five hour bus ride, you were still in New York?" Steve asked with a laugh.

"Shut up." Bucky grumbled. "If we're not in New York, then where are we?"

"Maryland. Didn't you notice the different flags?"

"I thought it was a camp flag." Bucky was laughing now.

"The American education system triumphs yet again." Steve joked.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. You know your flags and I don't. Why didn't we go to D.C. last time? I've always wanted to go." Bucky sat up a bit straighter in his seat, excitement taking hold of him. Steve tore his eyes away from the road just long enough to cast him a disarming smile.

"Because it's half an hour away and I was already sneaking you out after lights out. By the time we got back, it probably would've been close to sunrise. I don't know how Coulson would feel about that."

"But we can go now?"

Steve sighed and glanced down at his watch again. He then watched the empty road in front of them and tilted his head, weighing his options.

"Please?" Bucky hoped to tip the scale.

Steve looked over at him. His mouth curved into a smile. "Alright. But don't even think about telling Tony."

"That will not be a problem." Bucky agreed.

* * *

Bucky was perfect when he was excited.

Steve watched as he ran around the Mall; he was standing on benches and climbing up trees to get a better view of the buildings, he was calling out a friendly greeting to every jogger that passed by, and he was reciting the entire Preamble to the Constitution from memory.

It was nearing two in the morning. They had already had dinner, and they had spent hours walking around the city. The moment the Monument and the Capital were both in sight, Bucky absolutely lit up. Steve couldn't bring himself to tell Bucky that it was time to go home.

"I want to see the Monument." Bucky suddenly declared.

Steve turned to face the monument in question. He then turned back to look at Bucky, quirking an eyebrow. "It's right there. You can't see it?"

Bucky might have rolled his eyes. It was difficult to tell in the dark.

"I want to see the water, though."

"The water?" Steve cocked his head.

"The water by the Monument. Where is it?"

Steve laughed. "It's not actually that close to the monument. It's, uh, it's a bit of walk."

"Well, what're you waiting for? Let's go!"

* * *

If Bucky were to die in that moment - feet in the water and head against Steve Rogers' shoulder, watching the sun rise up behind the Washington Monument - he would die happy.

It was nearly six in the morning. By now, everyone at camp knew that they were missing. They were both going to be in trouble with Coulson when they got back. Neither of them mentioned it. They didn't want to break the illusion that they had created. In D.C., they weren't Steve the counselor and Bucky the camper. They were just two human beings who craved each other's presence.

"I think I saw apartments for sale on the walk over here." Bucky mentioned for the fifth time.

"We can't move here, Buck." Steve reminded him for the fifth time. Bucky could practically hear the smile on Steve's lips.

"Why not?" Bucky lifted his head off of Steve's shoulder and looked him square in the eye. It was difficult to do. Steve's eyes were so piercing. They made Bucky feel more exposed than he was entirely comfortable with.

Steve grinned and shook his head. He ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know, Buck. Pick a reason. I'd get charged for kidnapping you. Your parents would kill us both. Coulson would kill us both. I don't have enough money to rent an apartment and I don't think that you do, either. You have to go back to school in two months…"

Bucky frowned. "You're too realistic."

"One of us has to be." Steve pressed a kiss against Bucky's temple. "And on that note, we should get back to camp. I'm already going to be in enough trouble as it is. Coulson might ship me off to a boarding school if I miss my session, too."

"Ugh." Bucky groaned, untangling himself from Steve's arms and lying down on his back. "No. I'm never going back. I can't go back to a muddy cabin full of mosquitos after a night in D.C."

Steve let out a heavy sigh and laid down next to Bucky. "Don't make me be the responsible one."

"Then don't be. Let's skip town. Who'd ever know?"

"Your parents. Coulson. My friends. Your friends."

"Ugh." Bucky groaned louder and covered his eyes with his hands.

"Come on."

"No."

"Don't make me carry you all the way to the car."

"Why not?"

"Bucky." Steve struggled to his feet and smiled down at Bucky expectantly.

"Fine." Bucky huffed. He allowed Steve to help him to his feet. They began to walk in the direction of the car. Bucky kept sneaking glances at Steve as they hobbled through the city streets.

 _I love you._

"You hungry?"

"Huh?" Bucky shook his head in an effort to clear it of those three unspoken words.

"Are you hungry?" Steve repeated slowly, smiling good-naturedly. "It's six in the morning and we've got a drive ahead of us. Coulson will probably yell at us through breakfast, so it's sort of now or never."

"Coffee." Bucky managed. "I definitely need coffee."

* * *

 _I love you._

 _I love you._

 _I love you._

 _Oh, god. I love you._

Steve squirmed in his seat and squinted at the road ahead of him. It wasn't time to say it. Not yet. He wanted to, though. If Bucky only knew how badly he wanted to say it.

"Will Coulson really be that mad?" Bucky asked, taking a long sip of coffee. He remained oblivious to the thoughts swirling around Steve's head, threatening to drive him out of his mind.

Steve ran a hand through his hair. "We'll be lucky if I get another night off this summer."

"What about me, though? He won't call my parents...will he?"

Steve smiled and shook his head. "No, he won't call your parents. This camp is to protect you from your parents, remember? Coulson wouldn't call your parents to tell them that you'd been out all night with one of his male counselors."

"Good." Bucky's whole body relaxed. That somehow put Steve at ease.

* * *

Bucky felt a sinking sensation as Steve parked the car in the camp parking lot. He was dreading it all: Coulson's anger, the judgement of other campers, seeing Steve run around camp making everyone fall in love with him, Tony's inevitable comments, and, of course, being forced to spend time with people other than Steve.

Steve pulled the keys out of the ignition. He turned to look at Bucky, smiling nervously. Bucky returned the smile awkwardly. He didn't know how to tell Steve that he never wanted to leave his side.

"We're here." He said instead.

He cringed. That was stupid.

"Yeah," Steve agreed, peering out the window before returning that piercing stare to Bucky. "You ready?"

"No."

Steve grimaced. "Me neither. Let's do this."

* * *

"I thought that you - of all people - would know better than to pull a stunt like this!" Coulson shouted, pacing the length of his office. Steve shrank in his seat. He knew better than to do anything else. "You're lucky I didn't call the police. I could have, you know. You're lucky that I didn't call Bucky's parents, for that matter. I was beginning to think that I was going to have to pick up the phone and tell his parents that their son had been abducted by one of my counselors!"

"I'm sorry, Coulson." Steve's voice was hoarse with disuse.

Coulson stared at him long and hard before perching on the edge of his desk and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just tell me: What was running through your mind? What possessed you to smuggle a camper out for an entire night?"

"I…"

 _love him._

Steve's mouth went dry as he struggled to find the words.

"I…"

 _can't get enough of him._

"I…"

 _want to spend every second of every night with him._

"I don't know."

"You don't know." Coulson echoed in a tone of disbelief. "Steve, this is completely out of character for you. I have half a mind to send Bucky home early for his own good."

"You can't do that." Steve protested. "This isn't his fault. If you've got to punish someone, punish me. Don't take it out on him. He didn't know any better."

"Then tell me what I'm supposed to do, Steve. I can't have you keeping campers out all night long whenever it suits you. This isn't your own personal dating pool. We're supposed to be helping these kids." Coulson reminded him. Steve hung his head, guilt settling in the pit of his stomach like a lead brick.

Coulson let out another sigh after a moment of silence. "You're banned from hosting any more activities this week. Your time spent with the campers will be limited and it will be monitored. No nights off or access to the car until further notice. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir." Steve mumbled.

The fact that he felt outraged by the terms of his punishment caused another wave of guilt to crash over him. Coulson was being generous. In an abstract sort of way, he knew that. In a selfish sort of way, though, he thought that Coulson was actually being sort of a dick.

"Good. Then go back to your cabin and wait until dinner. Natasha will be covering the rest of your activities for the week. Send Barnes in when you go."

Steve nodded numbly, shuffling out of the room.

* * *

"What do you mean I can't see him?" Bucky's voice was filled with indignation.

"It's for your own good." Coulson reassured him. "Steve kept you out all night long. I thought that I was going to have to call your parents."

"He kept me out all night long because I asked him to." Bucky argued.

"Then it's for Steve's good." Coulson tried again. "Last night jeopardized Steve's position as a counselor here. I can't have counselors that whisk campers away at their leisure."

"But he doesn't have anywhere else to go." Bucky said.

"No, he doesn't." Coulson agreed. "Which is why I would hate to have to tell him to find other arrangements. Listen, Bucky. You seem like a smart kid. You have to know that whatever it is that is going on between you and Steve isn't meant to last. That's fine. I understand the lure of summer romances, believe me. I do. But you have crossed a whole new line. Now is the time to take a step back and remember that summer always comes to an end. It isn't worth risking a home for."

* * *

 **Womp womp. I guess Alex isn't the only problem anymore. I wonder how this is going to play out...**


	12. Chapter 12

**Day Twenty-Two**

"Hey, Buck. Why weren't you at breakfast this morning? You weren't in D.C. again, were you?" Alex joked, walking straight into the cabin and plopping down next to Bucky in his bunk.

Bucky pushed his face into his pillow and shook his head.

"Then why? They had chocolate chip pancakes this morning."

Bucky lifted his head off of his pillow. "Was Steve there?"

"I don't know. I wasn't looking for him. Was he not supposed to be?" Alex asked, cocking his head to the side. "Is something going on between you guys? Was your night out not everything that you were hoping for? You didn't tell him that you loved him, did you?"

"No, I didn't tell him." Bucky replied dismally. "And I don't think I'll ever get the chance."

"Did you two break up? Already?"

Bucky tried to smile. "Well, it has been a few years in camp time."

"Seriously? You're over?"

"No. Maybe. I don't know."

"What happened?" Alex climbed out of the bed and swiped a box of granola bars out from under Tony's bed. He sat back on the bed and offered Bucky a granola bar. Bucky shook his head. Alex shrugged and took two out of the box anyway.

"Coulson told me that I can't see Steve anymore." Bucky replied, his voice quivering.

"So? Who cares? Your love life isn't up to him." Alex reminded him, handing over a granola bar. Bucky accepted it.

"He's threatening to fire Steve."

"Ouch." Alex took a bite out of his granola bar. "That does suck. Can't Steve just find a new job, though?"

"I don't think it's that easy. This place is his home. He doesn't have anywhere else to go."

"That does make things a little more complicated." Alex said, nodding his head.

"I don't know what I'm going to do." Bucky mumbled, pulling his legs to his chest and resting his head on his knees. "I know that I shouldn't even have to think about it, but _god_. I love him, y'know? I really do. I don't want to give him up so easily."

"I don't know what to tell you, Buck. I don't think there's a good answer here."

"What would you do?"

"I don't know, Bucky, I just…" Alex shook his head, obviously not wanting to answer.

"Alex. C'mon. I can take it."

Alex stared at Bucky for a minute before sighing. "I think that I would at least talk to him. It's not really fair for you to make a decision without him. Other than that, I honestly have no idea what I'd do. I'm glad I'm not you."

Bucky tried to glare at Alex but wound up smiling. "Thanks a lot."

"No problem." Alex smiled despite his mouth being full of granola.

* * *

"You need to end it." Nat said, her voice firm. "You heard Coulson. Your job is at risk. No guy is worth losing your home for."

"Bucky is." Steve bit back.

"No he isn't." Nat argued. "He's a camper. There are hundreds of them who won't make you lose your job. Just choose another one."

"You know I can't do that."

"You can't just let Bucky Barnes ruin your life."

"He isn't ruining my life."

"Really?"

"Come on, Nat." Steve shook his head. "We've all gotten in trouble before. This'll all blow over in a week or two. You're getting too worked up over this."

"You're not getting worked up enough." Nat decided. "This isn't like the times we've snuck out for an hour or two, or even like the time Sam threw the lake party on the last night of camp. This is a whole different issue. That kid is changing you, Steve. Last summer, you didn't break a single rule. You didn't even miss the end-of-summer picnic. No one goes to that. Now all of the sudden you're sneaking campers out, you're staying out all night, and you're not even considering putting an end to it?"

"I love him." Steve mumbled.

"I know you do." Nat placed a hand on his arm and looked at him pitifully. "But that doesn't magically make everything else fall into place. You have to do what's best for you right now."

"He is what's best for me."

"You know that he isn't."

"Nat." Steve looked at her imploringly. "Can't you just trust me to make the right decision for myself?"

Nat smiled. It was not a happy smile. "I'm your best friend. Of course I can't."

* * *

Bucky shoved his hands in his pockets and dragged his feet along the ground as he trudged towards Steve's cabin. He was not looking forward to the conversation they were going to have.

Steve was probably mad at him. He probably blamed him for getting him into trouble. Bucky swallowed hard and attempted to gather up what little courage remained in his chest. Whether or not Steve was mad, they needed to talk about what Coulson had said.

Bucky sucked in a giant breath as he reached Steve's cabin.

This was necessary.

This would be fine.

This would make everything all better.

He knocked on the door.

Natasha answered the door.

"Bucky." She seemed genuinely surprised to see him. Bucky tried to muster a smile and failed spectacularly. "Does Sam know that you're here?"

"Uh," Bucky considered lying but thought better of it. "No. He doesn't. I'm not trying to get anyone in trouble, I swear. I just want to talk to Steve."

Natasha looked over her shoulder, considering this. After a few seconds, she nodded. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea. Steve, Bucky is here to talk to you."

* * *

"Bucky?" Steve shot up out of his bed. He attempted to flatten his unruly hair as Bucky entered the room. He heard the cabin door slam shut as Nat left. He was grateful for the privacy.

"Hey Steve." Something about Bucky's smile wasn't right. His eyes weren't sparkling. He looked tired.

"Hey," Steve tried not to sound as anxious as he felt.

"I'm sorry I wasn't at breakfast. I just…" Bucky's eyes were focused on his shoes. He paused for a moment, probably thinking of an adequate excuse for not wanting to be around Steve. Steve understood. "I didn't know what to say. I still don't. I...Coulson told me that I could cause you to get fired. To lose your home. Steve, I don't want to be the thing that ruins your life."

* * *

 _Fight for me, Steve. Fight for me._

Bucky watched Steve's face, his heart hammering against his chest. His nerves were at an all-time high. He wanted nothing more than for Steve to tell him that he was being ridiculous. He wanted Steve to tell him that he was wrong.

He wanted Steve to say "I love you".

"Ah." Steve said instead. He looked at Bucky with an unreadable expression. Bucky swallowed hard and hoped for a happy ending.

* * *

So this was how it was going to end. Bucky was going to break up with him.

Steve struggled to swallow down the feeling of panic rising in his chest. First Peggy had left him, and now Bucky was leaving him. Bitterness chased through his veins. Everyone always left.

"I understand." He tried to keep his voice even. "This is getting too serious."

Bucky didn't look up from his shoes. His eyebrows knit together. He shifted from foot to foot. "It isn't that I don't like you…"

"No, I know that." Steve interrupted. He couldn't keep the coldness out of his voice. "But this is just a summer thing. It's not worth risking everything for."

Steve would have gladly risked everything for Bucky. He just wasn't pathetic enough to let Bucky know that.

"Just a summer thing." Bucky echoed, finally looking up from his shoes. Pain was written clear across his face. Steve wondered if he had misread Bucky's intentions after all. "That's all I was to you?"

"Buck, it's not like -"

"I get it." Bucky snapped, his voice taking on a cruel element that was entirely foreign to Steve. Steve flinched back. "You've had your fun and now you're ready to move on to the next camper. That's what you do, isn't it? God, I can't believe I bought your whole act. The sneaking out, the inside jokes, the promises; everyone gets those, don't they? I was just another one of them." His voice was quivering. He nodded his head firmly despite his trembling bottom lip. Steve wanted nothing more than to wrap Bucky up in his arms and tell him that he was wrong. Instead, he remained silent.

"Well, I guess that's it, then. You're free. Go nuts. Find yourself a new camper. I hear that Wade is looking for someone new."

"Bucky…" Steve sighed.

"No." Bucky snapped. "No, it's fine. I get it. Hey, maybe I'll find somebody new, too. He could be right outside waiting for me. No time like the present."

He stomped out of the cabin. The screen door slammed shut behind him.

Steve scrubbed his face with his hands and wished that he was dead.

He had lost Bucky Barnes.

* * *

 **My poor children. Okay, so this was not at all what I intended when I started this story, but what can you do? This is why I really need to write outlines. At any rate, now this is happening. Bucky is too insecure to accept that maybe Steve did really like him, and Steve is too afraid of getting hurt to let himself tell Bucky what he really wants. Will it get better in the next chapter? I don't know. What a mess. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this disaster in the making!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Day Twenty-Nine**

Bucky avoided Steve Rogers like the plague.

It was difficult to do; Tony kept finding excuses to get Steve into the cabin, they kept bumping into each other in the dining hall, Steve seemed to run every activity that sounded even remotely interesting, and he had a knack for being everywhere that Bucky was. The only place that Bucky felt safe was in Alex's cabin.

"I don't understand why you're hiding from him," Alex complained. Again. "You broke up. I doubt he wants to talk to you any more than you want to talk to him."

Bucky shook his head. "Even seeing him is like...I'd rather be set on fire. It'd hurt less."

Alex frowned. "I'm sorry, Buck."

Bucky tried to shrug it off. "It's not your fault. I was the one stupid enough to think that someone like him would want someone like me."

"Please." Alex snorted. "He's the stupid one. You're way out of his league and he was idiot enough to let you go."

"Stop being nice to me, Pierce." Bucky grumbled, picking at the lint-covered fruit rollup that he had recovered from under Alex's bed. He debated eating it but ultimately decided against it.

"Fine." Alex agreed. "You're an idiot, too. You're heartbroken over someone like him. You know that you could have your pick of the entire camp. You could find someone that actually cared about you. Someone that would never break your heart. Someone that felt like a better person just for being in the same room as you. Someone that spent an entire day thinking up ways to make you laugh. Someone that noticed the way your eyes lit up whenever you smiled."

Bucky smiled uncomfortably. "Yeah, right."

Alex sighed. "I'm serious, Buck."

"Serious about what?"

"You."

"What?" Bucky felt like he'd been hit over the head with a rock.

"I didn't want to say anything when you were so happy with Steve, but Buck, I really like you. A lot. I have for a while. Ever since that afternoon when you and Clint were throwing that football. I tried to tell myself that I was content to just be your friend, but now that you and Steve are finished…"

"Woah, _woah_. Alex," Bucky jumped off the bed and stared at Alex incredulously. "You're not...serious? I mean...we're just…"

Alex just smiled up at him apologetically.

"I think that I need some fresh air." Bucky murmured, stumbling backwards.

"Bucky, you don't have to -"

"No, no. I want to. That's the whole point of camp, right? Fresh air. It'll...it'll do me good. Yeah. Fresh air. I'll see you later." Bucky all but ran out of the door. Alex called after him, but those calls went ignored.

It was nearly two in the afternoon. People were everywhere. Friends were sprawled out on the grass cracking jokes, counselors were chasing after two campers that had run off with archery equipment, gaggles of people were returning from the pool with disheveled appearances and wide smiles...Bucky wanted no part of any of it. He just hurried through the crowds, avoiding eye contact with anyone that might try to slow him down.

He quickly reached one of his newer hiding spots behind a rack of canoes. He dug a pack of cigarettes and his spare lighter out from underneath one of the rusted canoes. He leaned back against the rack, stuck a damp cigarette between his lips and struggled to light it. He had been working on cutting back on smoking, but this was an emergency. Cigarettes were the only things left in the world that made complete sense to him.

He only made it through one cigarette before Alex showed up. Bucky pretended not to notice him.

"Bucky." Alex demanded his attention, plopping down next to him.

Bucky exhaled a thick cloud of smoke and focused on the way the light danced across the lake in front of them.

"Bucky, come on. We need to talk about this." Alex persisted.

"Talk about what? This is normal. This is fine." Bucky protested.

"No, it's not." Alex huffed. "Give me one of those."

Bucky reluctantly surrendered a cigarette.

"Look, man. You don't have to give me any sort of chance. I know that you're pretty down on love right now. I didn't tell you that I liked you because I was expecting anything. I just…" Alex shrugged. "I just wanted you to know."

Bucky leaned back until his head thumped against a canoe. He closed his eyes.

"Why couldn't you have just been my friend? Why wasn't that enough?"

"Why couldn't you have just been Steve's friend?" Alex countered. "People are selfish, Buck. We want as much of someone as they'll let us take."

"What if I won't let you take anything?"

* * *

"Mail call." Nat called, barging into Steve's cabin without a single knock.

Steve groaned and buried his face further in his pillow. He didn't want to read whatever mail it was that Nat had brought him. It was probably either another bill or another rejection letter from one of the art schools that he had applied to. He was already depressed enough over his failed relationship with Bucky. He didn't need a financial or academic failure to contribute to his misery.

"Go away, Nat."

"Steve," Nat chastised, perching on the edge of his bed. "Come on. You've been moping forever. Don't you think that it's time to stop spending every free minute you have locked away in your cabin?"

"It's only been a week." Steve sulked.

Nat rolled her eyes. "Then it's only _felt_ like a lifetime. Seriously, though. Get up. You have mail."

"Just put it on my nightstand. I'll look at it later."

"Look at it now."

"I don't feel like being rejected by Bucky and another art school in the same week, Nat."

Nat sighed loudly. "Stop being such a pessimist. Look, it's a big envelope."

"Really?" Steve perked up.

It _was_ a big envelope. Steve hadn't gotten one of those before. He eagerly tore the seal open and began reading.

After a few moments of lingering silence, Steve looked up from the letter in shock.

"I got in." He could hardly believe it.

"You got in?" Nat asked, a smile spreading across her face.

"I got in!" Steve repeated, his voice taking on an almost frantic tone. He was not used to receiving good news. He could hardly contain himself. He leapt off of his bed and brought Nat up with him. He pulled her into a great big hug that swept her off of her feet.

"Steve, that's so great." Nat sighed, her voice muffled by Steve's shoulder. He released her from the hug in order to beam down at her.

"I know. God, this is so...I actually get to study art. They're going to let me be an artist."

"Aw, my own Steve. An artist." Nat grinned. "When does school start?"

"I don't know. Soon, I guess." Steve replied, picking up the letter and skimming through the parts that he had not yet read. His face fell when he came across the date. "Wait a minute. That can't be right."

Five days. The letter claimed that he was to be on campus for orientation in _five days_. School would start at the end of the summer.

"What?" Nat looked over his shoulder and quickly identified the date. "Oh. Wow. You'd better start packing."

"No," Steve shook his head and set down the letter. "I have to go find Bucky."

"Bucky?" Nat didn't seem to understand. "Do you mean Coulson?"

"No." Steve tied his shoes and cast Nat an apologetic look. "I mean Bucky."

"Steve, you can't." She tried to reason. "You two are done. Talking to him won't do anything other than complicate things. You got into school. Are you really going to risk letting him ruin that, too?"

"He's never ruined anything for me." Steve bit back. "And I don't think that he ever could. I was the one that ruined everything, and I…" He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "I can't just leave without telling him."

"Telling him what, exactly?"

"That I love him."

"You're an idiot."

Steve grinned. "I was planning on telling him that, too."

Nat sighed and folded her arms across her chest. "I really don't think this is a good idea, Steve."

"I know you don't." Steve admitted. "And you're probably right. But it's just something I've got to do, Nat. I'll catch up with you at dinner, okay?"

"Okay." Nat replied, her voice hinting at an unspoken warning. "I'll have Sam keep an eye on the camp car."

* * *

"You can't tell me that you haven't thought about us before." Alex remarked as he and Bucky watched canoes race across the lake. Bucky was on his fourth cigarette. Alex was on his second.

"Of course I haven't!" Bucky replied. "I don't think there's been room in my mind to think about anyone other than Steve."

"Not even after you guys broke up?"

"Nah. It's only been a week. I still think about him a lot. Seeing him at least five times a day doesn't help."

"But a week in camp years is like -"

"Fuck your camp years." Bucky grumbled. "It still hurts. Leave me alone about it."

They sat in silence for about a minute. Alex - stubborn as a mule - was the one to break the silence.

"What about now?"

"What do you mean, 'what about now'?" Bucky asked irritably.

"Are you thinking about us now?"

"Trying not to."

Alex let out an impatient sigh. "Why not? We could be good together, you know."

"I don't think so."

"Why not? Think about it: we're already together all of the time, we get along great, and we find each other attractive."

"Yeah, but -"

"A-ha!" Alex exclaimed triumphantly.

"What?" Bucky asked, unamused.

"So you find me attractive, too?"

"Shut up."

"You do." Alex beamed.

"That doesn't mean I want to date you."

"How about just a kiss?"

"No means no, Alex."

"One kiss. That's it. If it's too weird, I won't mention it again."

"You swear?" Bucky eyed Alex suspiciously.

Alex grinned and held up his hand. "Scout's honor."

Bucky sighed, exhaling a puff of smoke. "Fine."

He ground his cigarette into the sand and scowled as Alex eagerly did the same.

He did not want to kiss Alex. He didn't want to kiss anyone that wasn't Steve. He just wanted to curl up in bed and be left alone for the rest of the camp session. Unfortunately, that was not an option. His only option at present was Alex Pierce and his chapped lips.

With one last sigh of resignation, Bucky squeezed his eyes shut and leaned a little closer to Alex. Alex closed the distance almost immediately, pressing his lips against Bucky's. Bucky winced at the smokey taste and the awkward movements. He was not given time to adjust to the sensation.

* * *

Steve saw the back of Bucky's head through the cracks in the canoe rack. He smiled to himself before walking over in his direction. He began rehearsing various ways to tell Bucky that he loved him. He could just walk right up and say it, he could beat around the bushes in the hopes that Bucky would say it first, he could make some drawn out speech about how sorry he was…

Bucky was kissing Pierce.

 _Bucky was kissing Pierce._

The moment that Steve reached the other side of the canoe rack, he was treated to the sight of Bucky and Pierce lip-locking. Cigarette butts were littering the beach around them. Pierce's hand was moving from Bucky's shoulder to his hair. The hair that Steve had been able to run his hands through just one week ago.

Steve's vision went red.

Unable to comprehend the situation - let alone figure out how to respond to it - Steve cleared his throat loudly. Bucky and Alex broke apart and looked at him in surprise.

Bucky looked reasonably guilty. Steve was glad. He wanted Bucky to feel guilty. After all the time that he had spent trying to convince himself that he was being unreasonably jealous of Pierce, Bucky had to go and kiss him. They hadn't even been broken up for a week yet and Bucky was already kissing somebody else! He should have at least waited until Steve could meet his eyes without feeling a crippling amount of pain.

And _Pierce_.

Well, Nat should have sent Pierce home when she had the chance.

"Steve." Bucky didn't seem to know what else to say. Steve clenched his jaw.

"I'm sorry," He said tersely. "I didn't know that I was interrupting."

"You know what? You weren't. I think that I'm actually going to -" Pierce seemed eager to get out of Steve's way. He may not have been a good person, but at least he was a smart one.

"No. Stay." Bucky commanded, casting Pierce a stern look. Pierce looked surprised but obeyed. Steve clenched and unclenched his fists.

"Yeah, Pierce. Stay. Tell me about the cigarettes." Steve nodded towards the cigarette butts scattered around the pair. He was itching to send Pierce home.

"Oh…" Pierce looked around at the cigarette butts and frowned. He seemed to realize just how much trouble he was in. Steve was glad. He wanted Pierce to feel just as bad as he did at that moment.

"They're mine." Bucky cut in.

"Yours?" Steve asked dubiously.

They obviously were not Bucky's cigarettes. Bucky didn't smoke. He certainly didn't smoke six cigarettes in one sitting. He was just sticking up for Pierce. He was willing to get in trouble to protect Pierce. The very idea made Steve's blood boil.

* * *

Now that he didn't have to worry about impressing Steve, Bucky didn't see the harm in revealing his bad habit. Seeing the dumbfounded look on Steve's face was reward enough. After the way that Steve had broken up with him, Bucky wanted to hurt him. Badly.

"Yeah, they're mine. Is that a problem?"

Alex cast him a look of disapproval but had the brains to keep quiet.

"You know it's a problem." Steve snapped back. "You can't have cigarettes on camp grounds."

"So, what? Are you going to send me home? That'd be awfully convenient for you, wouldn't it?" Bucky stood up and approached Steve, a sneer playing on his lips. He was nearly rabid with anger.

"I don't want to send you home, Buck."

"Don't call me that."

"Fine. I don't want to send you home, _James_." Steve's eyes narrowed. Bucky glared back.

"If you're not going to send me home, then why are you still here? Shouldn't you be chatting up your next victim? Or are you still working on the sketches that they'll "accidentally" see in a few days?" Bucky folded his arms across his chest and took a step towards Steve. Steve glowered down at him.

Steve didn't have the right to be angry. He had lied, manipulated, and used Bucky. He barely had a right to look Bucky in the eyes. Bucky was fighting the urge to punch him square in the jaw. He was also fighting the urge to kiss him. It was a very confusing combination of feelings.

"I didn't come over here to fight with you." Steve growled. His voice sent a shiver through Bucky's spine. Bucky tried to ignore it.

"Then why'd you come over?"

Steve snorted and shook his head. "No reason. No reason at all. Have a nice afternoon, guys."

Steve spared Bucky and Alex one last dark look before storming off in the general direction of the cabins. Bucky watched him leave for a moment before plopping back down on the ground. He felt exhausted. How could one argument be so draining?

"Are you okay?" Alex asked tentatively.

Bucky shook his head and swallowed hard. "No."

"Should I…?" Alex struggled to his feet and looked around awkwardly.

Bucky nodded. "Yeah."

* * *

Pierce.

 _Pierce._

Not only had Bucky abandoned him; now he was with Pierce. Steve could hardly believe it. He seethed as he crossed camp towards his cabin. He didn't bother stopping to talk to anyone that said hello to him along the way. He just wanted to lock himself away in his cabin until it was time for him to go to school.

* * *

 **These dumb kids are driving me crazy.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Day Thirty**

"Listen, Bucky," Tony scratched the back of his head nervously and avoided eye contact with Bucky. Bucky glowered at him. "I know that you don't want to see Steve, but you can't keep skipping every meal. Sam's going to get in trouble with Coulson and frankly, I'm tired of pretending not to notice you eating all of my food. Why don't you just come to breakfast? I'll tell Steve to leave you alone."

"No thanks." Bucky grumbled into his pillow.

"C'mon, Bucky." Bruce chimed in from across the room.

"No." Bucky insisted.

It was true, he was avoiding Steve. He could not bear the sight of him, especially not after the fight they had just had. It was like watching a stranger walk around in his best friend's body; a stranger that made Bucky second-guess every fond memory that he had made with Steve. The more he spoke to this new, cruel Steve, the darker his memories became. It felt like someone had plunged a knife straight into Bucky's heart and twisted the shit out of it.

Besides all of that, Bucky did not have the courage to face Alex. They had not spoken since Steve had caught them behind the canoes, despite Alex's best efforts at convincing Tony to relay messages to Bucky. Bucky had no interest in telling Alex that his feelings weren't mutual. Instead, he much preferred sticking his head in the ground and waiting for all of the unpleasant things in his life to go away.

"Sam." Tony complained loudly. "He's not getting out of bed."

There were heavy footsteps across the wooden floor.

Great.

Now Bucky had to sit through one of Sam's pep talks.

"Seriously, Barnes? I've never seen anyone mope around like this before. So your camp relationship didn't work out. They usually don't. At least you actually had one. That's more than anyone else in this cabin can say." Sam reasoned.

"Hey!" Tony objected.

"Now's not the time, Stark." Bruce mumbled.

"Yeah, Stark. This is no time for lying." Scott teased.

"Why don't you guys go on over to the dining hall?" Sam suggested, clearly thinking that talking to Bucky one-on-one would suddenly make Bucky more amenable to the idea of visiting the dining hall.

The rest of Bucky's cabin-mates reluctantly left. Sam let out a sigh and folded his arms across his chest. "You know that Steve won't force you to talk to him, don't you?"

Bucky just shrugged, his face still buried in his pillow.

"Look, Bucky. I don't like talking about my friends to their exes, especially not when it's this weird, fucked-up situation that you two are in. That being said, you've got to know that Steve is a wreck, too. I think that he's handling this worse than you, if I'm being honest. You don't have to worry about anyone judging you or teasing you. I think everyone's too distracted by Steve." Sam said in the gentlest voice that he could manage. Bucky cringed every time that he heard Steve's name.

"Yeah, okay." He murmured, not believing Sam for a second.

He had been there. He had witnessed the way the kindness had disappeared from Steve's eyes the moment that Bucky gave him the opportunity to wiggle his way out of their relationship. He had seen how easy it was for Steve to change from the nice, easygoing guy that he had previously known to some dark, hateful creature that Bucky had never wanted to meet.

"I wouldn't make that sort of thing up, dude. He's in a bad place. Either way, you've got to eat. We'll get sued if you don't. I'll make sure Steve doesn't so much as look at you the wrong way if you want." Sam offered.

"Maybe I'll go to lunch."

Sam considered Bucky's response before letting out an exasperated sigh.

"You'd better."

* * *

"Pierce, Nat. _Pierce_." Steve rested his head on the table, electing to ignore the large plate of pancakes that Nat had forced him to accept from the dining hall chef.

"I know, Steve. I know. You've been saying his name non-stop since yesterday afternoon. Just let it go. You're going to be off at school in four days. I'm sure that you'll find somebody new and you'll forget all about this whole summer."

"What if I don't want to find somebody new?" Steve protested. "I think I might just give up on all relationships. I mean, why shouldn't I? Peggy left me for Angie and Bucky left me for Pierce."

"Bucky didn't leave you for Pierce, you asshole." Sam cut in, sliding into the seat next to Nat. "You broke up with him. Pierce happened a week after that."

Nat's face darkened. " _You_ broke up with Bucky? You told me that _he_ rejected _you_!"

"He did." Steve argued weakly. "He was just about to break up with me. I just made it easier for him."

"Are you sure that he was about to break up with you?" Sam demanded. "Because right now, he's in my cabin refusing to even leave his bed. He hasn't come to the dining hall in days."

"He's probably too busy kissing Pierce behind the canoes." Steve sulked.

"Pierce is over there, sitting with his cabin." Nat said, nodding towards where Pierce was, in fact, sitting with a gaggle of boys. He was staring off in the direction of Tony's table, likely looking for Bucky. Steve got a small sense of satisfaction out of that.

"Look, he was the one that chose to end it. I even went looking for him yesterday to tell him that breaking up was a mistake, but he was making out with Pierce. I don't know why he isn't here, but I don't think it's because of me."

Sam sighed and scrubbed his face with his hand. Nat cast him a sympathetic smile.

"I'll give you half of my month's bonus if you go talk to him."

"I don't want your money, Sam."

"What about my next night off?"

"Your next night off isn't until next week. I'll be gone by then."

"Okay, well, what about -"

"Sam. Let me try." Nat interrupted, rolling her eyes. "Steve, I have your plane ticket in my cabin. I'll rip it to shreds if you don't go talk to Bucky."

"I'll just print another ticket."

"I don't think that's happening," Sam chuckled, his mouth full of bacon. "Coulson broke the printer this morning. Again."

"Damn it." Steve grumbled. He turned to look at Nat dubiously. "You don't even like Bucky. Shouldn't you be telling me to stay away from him?"

"Usually, yes." Nat agreed, swiping a piece of bacon off of Sam's tray before grinning at Steve. "But this is sort of a life or death kind of thing. The boy isn't eating, and Coulson could get sued for that. I'm not asking you to make out with him or whisk him off to D.C.; just get him to eat a sandwich and you're in the clear."

"And you'll leave me alone after I talk to him? Even if he doesn't want to eat?" Steve eyed Nat suspiciously. She smiled back.

"Absolutely."

"Fine."

"Fine?" Sam perked up a bit. He was probably desperate to have his camper problem resolved before Coulson found out.

"Fine." Steve repeated irritably. He stood up before anyone else could ask him to do any more favors. With one last glare at Nat and Sam, he trudged out of the dining hall and in the direction of Bucky's cabin.

* * *

Bucky heard the cabin door creak open and shut his eyes in frustration. Breakfast hadn't lasted nearly as long as he had hoped that it would. He just wanted to be alone and now Tony and Sam were back to harass him about changing his clothes and eating food.

Someone cleared their throat behind him. Probably Sam. Probably another lecture about how he was wasting his whole summer moping over a camp romance. Nobody seemed to understand that Bucky had actually fallen in love with Steve.

"Ah, hey."

That wasn't Sam. That wasn't even Tony. That was _Steve_.

Bucky sat up so quickly that he smacked his head on the top bunk of the bed. He winced and rubbed his forehead as he turned to look at Steve. Steve just smiled sheepishly. He was probably laughing at him.

"What are you doing here?" Bucky's question would have sounded infinitely more hostile if he wasn't currently sporting a giant red mark on his forehead.

Still, Steve had the decency to act bashful. He stuck his hands in his pockets - which caused his shorts to slip down even further down on his hips - and looked down at his shoes. He licked his lips before looking up at Bucky again. He smiled awkwardly.

Bucky took a moment to reflect upon all of the reasons that he hated Steve. He couldn't let himself get caught in that gorgeous web of lies again.

"Sam said you weren't eating." Steve explained, still smiling.

Bucky jutted out his chin, hoping to look much more confident than he felt. "I've been eating. I'm just tired of the food at the dining hall. Burnt eggs can only taste so good for so many days."

Steve let out a forced chuckle. "Right, yeah. That's...fair."

"Is that all?" Bucky needed him to leave. He was forgetting his reasons for loathing Steve one by one as the minutes ticked by.

"Well...uh...are you going to eat?"

"I never stopped eating."

Steve let out a sigh and shifted from foot to foot. "Are you going to eat in the dining hall?"

"I don't really see a reason to." Bucky folded his arms across his chest, mostly to cover up the colossal powdered-sugar stain on his shirt. He had spent most of the morning eating Peter's secret stash of donuts.

"Look, Buck -"

" _Don't_." Bucky snarled. He didn't want to sink into that comfortable state with Steve again. He didn't want to fall for Steve again and make things even worse than they already were.

Steve sighed and held up his hands in a sign of resignation. " _Bucky_. Sam is gonna get fired if Coulson doesn't see you in the dining hall soon. I don't want to intervene, I just -"

"Then don't. Shouldn't you be working on your next camper? I must be cutting into your valuable flirting time." Bucky lashed out, knowing that he was in danger of regressing back to square one if he didn't act quickly.

Steve's entire demeanor changed immediately. He was no longer the friendly, easy-going guy that Bucky had fallen so desperately in love with. He was back to being the asshole that had tricked Bucky into falling in love in the first place.

"Look, Bucky. I didn't come here to fight with you. I'm trying to handle this like a mature adult -"

Bucky snorted obnoxiously loud. "Yeah, of course. Chasing after younger campers instead of dating people your own age is very mature. Please, tell me more about how to behave like an adult, Steve."

"What the fuck is your problem?" Steve demanded, taking a step closer to Bucky's bed. Bucky leaned back a little, but glared back.

" _You_ are my problem. Jesus, don't you ever get tired of tracking me down just to yell at me? Or was that your whole purpose when you talked to me? I'm starting to think that you get off on playing the victim. Maybe that's why Peggy left you for Angie. I can't really blame her. I mean, _God_. Pierce doesn't carry himself like a goddamn martyr and it is a fucking breath of fresh air after being around you." Bucky didn't bother filtering his words as they fell out of his mouth. He wanted to hurt Steve.

Steve stared at him, dumbfounded. It seemed that Bucky had finally found the perfect combination of words to shut him up. For some reason, it didn't feel nearly as satisfying as he originally thought that it would. Still, he set his shoulders back and tilted his chin up in an act of defiance. He refused to feel bad for the things that he said.

"You know what?" Steve finally said. His voice was unusually soft and just a little bit raspy. Bucky worried that Steve might cry. "Fine. Just fine. I won't bother you anymore. Have a nice summer, Bucky."

He stomped out of the cabin. Bucky stared after him. He hated himself for staring after him.

It was for the best, though. Bucky knew that it was. If he had played along with Steve's "mature adults" game, he would have ended up apologizing and begging Steve to reconsider their breakup, only to have his heart broken a few weeks later.

He laid back in his bed and pulled the covers up to his nose. He wanted nothing more than to shut out the rest of the world until it was time to go home. Unfortunately, he had roommates. Roommates made it awfully difficult to be alone.

"Hey, Barnes. I saw Steve walking out of here. Did you two finally kiss and make up?" Tony asked as the gaggle of boys living in the cabin returned from the dining hall. Bucky did not so much as turn around.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Didn't you guys work things out?" Sam asked.

"Oh, yeah. Things are peachy now." Bucky grumbled.

"Hey! Who ate my donuts?" Peter demanded.

* * *

 **These. Dumb. Boys. Are. Killing. Me.**

 **Okay, okay. I know I'm technically in charge of everything that's happening, so I'll accept...12% of the responsibility for their stupidity. A case might be made for 15%. At any rate, here we are. We've still got some way to go, but we'll get there. While we're all on this journey together, it would be fantastic if you guys could leave any feedback you might have; it's what gets me through all of this bullshit.**

 **Until next time, enjoy the stupidity!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Day Thirty-One**

"You know he didn't mean it."

"Oh, he meant it, alright." Steve grumbled as he shoved all of his t-shirts in his backpack. He would have to refold them when he got to New York. "You should have seen the way he looked at me, Nat. He hates me."

"He probably just felt cornered. I can see how having an ex waltz into a room and lecture about healthy eating habits could put someone on the defensive." Nat asserted, repacking Steve's backpack the moment he turned around to grab his socks.

"You were the one who told me to talk to him!" Steve complained.

"I didn't think that it would go so badly." Nat admitted.

"Because all of our conversations leading up to it had gone spectacularly." Steve mumbled sarcastically.

"So you had a bad encounter. Everyone has bad encounters with their exes. It's one of the marvels of everyday life."

"I guess," Steve sighed. "I just can't wait to get out of here. I don't think I can take another fight with Bucky."

"He can't be that bad." Nat rolled her eyes and refolded half of Steve's clothes.

"You would think," Steve replied, shaking his head. "But I'm telling you, he can be brutal when he wants to be."

"And that's why you're running away?" Nat cast him a knowing look.

"I'm not running away." Steve objected. "I think that going to orientation a few days early will be good for me. I have a few friends in Brooklyn that I haven't seen in ages, I can start looking at apartments…"

"...You can protect yourself from Bucky Barnes…"

"Alright, so I want to protect myself from him." Steve huffed. He sat down on his bed and ran his hand through his hair. "Is that really so bad?"

"No, not really." Nat answered, sitting down next to him. She flattened his hair and afforded him an uncharacteristically kind smile. "I just want you to be happy. If going to Brooklyn a few days early will make you happy, then I'm happy for you."

Steve smiled back. "Thanks."

"No problem." Nat removed her hand from Steve's hair and resumed her usual businesslike demeanor. "Now hurry up and finish packing. We'd better leave soon if you're going to make your train."

"Alright," Steve agreed. "I think I'm all packed. Do you want to grab the keys from Coulson?"

"Yep. Meet you in the parking lot in ten?"

"Square deal." Steve agreed.

Nat smiled at him before stalking out of the cabin. The moment that the door slammed shut behind her, Steve walked across the room and knelt down beside his dresser. He opened the bottom drawer and extracted a small package from the very back.

He stared at the package, considering it for a moment. He then grabbed his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and exited the cabin. He clutched the package, afraid of leaving it behind.

* * *

"So this is your new spot, huh?"

Bucky had been minding his own business, smoking a few cigarettes between activities behind the cabins near the parking lot, when he was interrupted by the sound of Steve Rogers' voice. He turned around scowling. He was not prepared for yet another fight.

Sensing Bucky's hostility, Steve raised his hands in a sign of resignation, despite the fact that he was holding some sort of package in one of his hands. He smiled awkwardly and waited for Bucky to nod before taking a step forward.

Bucky sighed before standing up, flicking his cigarette on the ground and stomping it out. He sized Steve up, folding his arms across his chest. The bastard was just as heartbreakingly handsome as ever.

"I just wanted to apologize for yesterday," Steve explained. "I know that things have been a little rocky between us lately, but I was hoping that we could move past that, maybe even try to be friends."

"Friends?" Bucky echoed stupidly. He couldn't fathom the idea of being just friends with Steve.

"Yeah," Steve nodded, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. "I could use a few more of those."

Bucky doubted that very much. Steve had tons of friends. Everyone was always falling over themselves trying to get closer to him. He radiated sunshine and nobody wanted to be left standing in the cold.

"I don't know, Steve. I don't think that I can see you around camp and just…"

"Then you're in luck." Steve interrupted, smiling slightly. "You won't have to see me around camp anymore. I, uh, I'm actually leaving camp soon."

"What?" Bucky felt like someone had knocked all of the air straight out of his lungs. "What do you mean? When is 'soon'?"

"Ah, in about ten minutes." Steve answered with a stupid grin. Bucky was so distracted by how unbelievably gorgeous Steve was that he barely caught the meaning of his words. Once he did, his jaw dropped with an audible pop.

"Ten minutes? Where are you going? You aren't leaving because…"

"No." Steve understood immediately and shook his head. "No, it's got nothing to do with you. I, uh, I'm going to school. Art school. I got accepted a few days ago. I'm gonna go look for apartments and see a couple of friends before school starts."

"Oh." Bucky suddenly felt very hollow. "Congratulations."

"Thanks." Steve nodded and looked down at the ground. They were both silent for a moment, awkwardly shuffling their feet and staring at the ground.

"Just so you know," Bucky blurted out, his face reddening. Steve's head snapped up. He looked at Bucky like there was nothing in the world more interesting than the words coming from his mouth. "Pierce and I...we were never actually...he only kissed me that one time. I didn't really want him to."

Steve nodded thoughtfully. "Good."

Bucky quirked an eyebrow, his heart hammering against his chest. He didn't want to be hopeful, and yet… "Good?"

"Yeah, well," Steve cleared his throat awkwardly. "He wasn't good enough for you."

"Right," Bucky let out a dubious laugh.

Steve smiled. Bucky squirmed under Steve's gaze.

"Well," Steve seemed to sense that he was making Bucky uncomfortable. "I should probably get going. Nat is waiting for me. Uh, here. I was going to ask Nat to give this to you once I left, but since I ran into you, I'll just…" He held out the package in his hand towards Bucky. He looked at Bucky expectantly.

Bucky accepted the package reluctantly. He couldn't imagine what Steve could possibly give him.

Steve's smile grew a little strained.

"Alright, well, I...uh…" Steve glanced over his shoulder in the direction of a parking lot. A car horn sounded - probably Natasha growing impatient. As if anything could be more important than the fact that Steve was leaving. "I'm glad I got to meet you this summer, Buck."

"Really?" Bucky couldn't help but arch an eyebrow skeptically.

Steve laughed. "Yeah, really."

"Huh." Bucky didn't know what to make of it.

Steve was leaving. Steve was behaving just like he had when he was Bucky's. Bucky had missed him. Bucky would miss him. He wanted Steve to stay. He didn't know how to tell Steve to stay.

"I guess that's all there is, huh? I, uh, I should go before Nat comes out to drag me to the car. Bye, Buck." Steve placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder for a moment, still smiling.

"Bye, Steve." Bucky rasped, suddenly feeling very overwhelmed.

Steve dropped his hand from Bucky's shoulder and turned around. Slowly, he walked in the direction of the parking lot. Just before he climbed into the car that had seen their first date, their inside jokes, their trip to D.C.; he turned around and smiled. He nodded before climbing into the car. Bucky managed a weak smile.

Steve was leaving.

* * *

"That looked like it went well." Nat remarked as she drove in the direction of the train station. She was going nearly 10 miles over the speed limit; probably trying to get Steve away from Bucky as quickly as possible. She probably knew that Steve was beginning to have doubts about leaving camp so soon.

"It did." Steve agreed, watching as the camp grew smaller and smaller in the rear view mirror. "I didn't think it would, but it did. Now it's almost like…"

"Steve." Nat cut him off briskly. "You're doing the right thing."

"What if I'm not?"

"You are."

"You don't think -"

"No."

"But what if I never -"

"You'll survive."

Steve couldn't help but laugh. He leaned his head back against the seat and stared at the roof of the car absentmindedly. Nat was always so sure, even when he wasn't. Still, Nat's confidence was not enough to keep the doubts from taking over his mind.

The look on Bucky's face just before he left had been damn near heartbreaking. If Steve hadn't known better, he would have sworn that Bucky wanted him to stay.

And his confession about Pierce. Bucky hadn't been interested in Pierce after all. Steve couldn't help but smile at the thought. He might not have been good enough for Bucky, but neither was Pierce.

Maybe he was making a mistake by running off to Brooklyn before camp ended. Maybe if he had stayed, he and Bucky would have found a way to work things out. Maybe they would have even gotten back together. Maybe Bucky would have smiled that genuine smile a few times more. Maybe his eyes would have lit up whenever Steve entered the room again.

"You're dwelling." Nat chastised.

"I still love him." Steve grumbled.

"That's not a good enough excuse to dwell."

"Really? You won't dwell over Clint when the summer ends?"

Nat was suddenly very interested in keeping her eyes on the road. The corner of Steve's mouth twitched into a smile. "No."

"Liar." Steve accused.

* * *

Bucky didn't trust himself to return to his cabin just yet. He didn't want to see Tony or Sam; he didn't want to answer their questions about Steve. He just wanted to sit behind the cabins and pretend that Steve would return at any moment.

After about ten minutes of waiting, he sat down. He looked down at the package sitting in his lap. He didn't know what Steve could possibly want to give him after the fights that they had had over the past weeks. Curiosity getting the better of him, he opened it.

It was Steve's sketchbook.

The words " _Property of Steve Rogers_ " had been crossed out. Just beneath it, Steve had written " _Property of Bucky Barnes_ " in that messy handwriting of his. Bucky quirked an eyebrow and cracked open the sketchbook.

He had only managed to flip through the first few pages when a note dropped out of the notebook.

 _Buck,_

 _it was only ever you._

The meaning behind Steve's note became clear as Bucky continued to flip through the sketchbook. There were even more sketches of him than before. Pictures of him running around Washington D.C., pictures of him grinning in the passenger seat of Coulson's car, pictures of him scowling, pictures of him with his mouth open wide and his eyebrows furrowed, pictures of him leaning against a cabin with a cigarette between his lips, pictures of him grinning at Pierce…

And all the while, Steve had not drawn a single other camper.

* * *

" _Last call for Train 16 to New York City…_ "

Nat and Steve exchanged small smiles as they stood at the station, surrounded by crowds of people anxious to get to their intended location. Steve wondered if Nat would let him change his mind at the very last minute. As if she could read his mind, Nat shook her head.

"Go." She said.

"But -"

"No."

"I just -"

"Absolutely not."

"Well, what if -"

"That'll never happen."

Steve ran a hand through his hair and grinned. "I'm gonna miss you, Nat."

Nat smiled reluctantly. "I'm going to miss you, too. I have no idea what I'm going to do with all of the free time I'll have once I don't have to look after you anymore. Maybe I'll get a dog."

"Good idea." Steve chuckled. "Although I can't imagine that Coulson will be too happy about it."

"I think Coulson's too busy worrying about the trouble that you're going to cause to even look in my direction for longer than a few minutes at a time."

"How the tables have turned."

"I know." Nat wrinkled her nose and smiled. "I always thought that I was the troublemaker."

"We all did."

"Well, now it's your job. Go on to New York and cause just as much trouble as you can. Not too much trouble, though. I don't want to have to come up there and bail you out of jail."

"I'll do my best to stay out of jail." Steve agreed with a grin.

"Good. Now go ahead and get on your train. Coulson is going to kill us both if you miss it."

"Alright, alright. I'll see you at Thanksgiving, Nat."

"Looking forward to it already."

With one last smile, Steve stepped on the train and sought out his seat. The doors shut almost immediately after he plopped down.

* * *

For the first time in days, Bucky forced himself to go to the dining hall for dinner that night. Almost immediately after he entered the building, Alexander Pierce materialized by his side.

"Hey, Buck." Alex smiled awkwardly. "I've been looking for you."

"You found me." Bucky tried to smile but failed miserably.

He knew that it was cowardly to hide from Alex for so long, but he hadn't known how to handle the unrequited feelings in any other way. He didn't want to lose one of the only friends he had made during camp, but he couldn't pretend to feel the same way that Alex felt.

"I don't guess you want to talk about what happened the other day." Alex remarked as both of the boys grabbed trays and began piling food onto plates.

Bucky let out a heavy sigh. "I really don't think there's much to talk about, Alex."

Alex nodded. "You still love him, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Do you think he still loves you?"

"No." Bucky replied with a pitiful smile. "But he did at some point. That's good enough for me."

"I heard that he left camp today."

"He did."

"Are you okay?"

"Not really."

"Need to talk about it?"

Bucky turned to look at Alex in surprise. "Really?"

"Sure." Alex shrugged.

"But you won't…"

"What, assault you? Jump your bones? Come on, Buck. Give me a little more credit than that."

* * *

Steve had read every single newspaper article, every brochure in the pocket of his seat, the nutrition facts printed on his only pack of gum, and the barrage of texts that Nat had started sending him the moment that his train took off from the station. None of it was enough to get his mind off of Bucky.

He wished that cell phones hadn't been banned from camp. He didn't even know Bucky's phone number. He didn't know his address, either. He had absolutely no way of contacting Bucky at the end of summer.

He supposed, then, that he and Bucky were really over. After all that they had been through, it was difficult to believe.

"Travelling alone?" The kindly woman sitting next to him on the train asked.

Steve turned to her and smiled as best he could. "Yeah."

"Visiting family?" She questioned. Steve shook his head.

"Going to school."

"Oh." The woman smiled as though she was impressed. "What are you studying?"

"Art."

"Oh." The woman's smile grew strained. Steve was used to that particular reaction from adults. They did not quite understand pursuing a passion over pursuing logic. "How nice."

Steve forced a smile of his own and returned his attention to the newspaper. He pretended to be very interested in the advice column. He thought about what Bucky might be doing at that very moment.

* * *

"Look who finally decided to join us." Tony remarked as Bucky and Alex sat down at Tony's usual dinner table. The rest of Bucky's cabin-mates smirked and chuckled while Bucky just rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, Stark. I need to talk to you."

"It's your first day back and you're already asking favors? You're not very good at this whole friendship thing, are you?" Tony teased, taking a bite out of his grilled cheese.

"Come on, Tony." Bucky sighed impatiently. "Please."

"Since you asked so nicely." Tony acquiesced, scooping up his tray and sliding out of his seat. He nodded towards an empty table and motioned for Bucky to join him. Bucky quickly obliged.

Now seated away from eavesdroppers and gossips, Bucky allowed himself to ask Tony a question that had been running through his mind from the moment he had met Steve Rogers.

"How many people has Steve dated?"

"What?" Tony looked caught off guard.

Bucky cringed at his awkwardly worded question. "Steve. I'm...I'm not trying to cause any trouble or pick any fights, I...just wanted to know. For my own personal reference. I was just wondering if I was... y'know…"

"Special?" Tony supplied with a smirk.

Bucky glared but did not answer.

"Well, you were, as a matter of fact." Tony leaned back and looked Bucky over appraisingly. "As far as I know, he was only ever serious about two people: you and Peggy. He's had a few crushes and he's gone on a few dates, but only you and Peg actually kept his interest. Too bad you went and fucked that up."

Bucky's stomach did a strange sort of flip in his stomach. He was special after all.

He had spent weeks doubting it, doubting Steve's intentions. Someone so good-looking surely had plenty of offers; someone like Bucky was a dime a dozen. It was not far-fetched to believe that Steve had made a career of his love life. It was not crazy to think that Bucky was just another notch on his bedpost.

It was crazy, though, to believe that he could have actually been special to Steve.

Crazy as it was, all evidence pointed in that direction. The sketchbook had been filled with pictures of him. No human being had enough time to sketch that amount of pictures of every single person that captured their attention. Bucky must have been the only one for quite some time. And now Tony was claiming that Bucky was essentially one half of Steve's entire romantic past.

Their relationship had meant something after all.

"Shit."

"Shit." Tony agreed.

* * *

 **Okay, so. Steve might have left, but I will be damned if this is the end all say all. Actually, I already finished writing everything, I just don't know if I'm going to be able to edit and post it within the confines of the night. So if this is the last chapter up in the story, don't be concerned. More is on the way!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Day Eighty-Five**

"I can't believe I'm finally going to be rid of you assholes." Bucky remarked as he packed up his bunk. It felt strange to see the cabin bare of posters and candy wrappers. It had come to feel like home to him.

"Yeah, well," Tony mumbled from his own bunk. "Expect a plane ticket to show up in the mail for Christmas break. You don't want to spend the holidays with your asshole family and my parents always leave me alone with a full bar. We could tear up the city together."

Bucky grinned at Tony from over his shoulder. They had come to a sort of understanding as the summer progressed. When alone, Tony would tell Bucky all kinds of stories about Steve, while Bucky discussed his feelings for Steve in a much more honest light. When surrounded by their cabin mates, they teamed up and made Peter's life a living hell. It was the least they could do after Peter attacked them with water balloons in the middle of the night.

Now that the camp session was ending, Bucky was faced with the prospect of never seeing his cabin mates again. They all swore that they would spend Christmas break at Tony's empty mansion, but Bucky doubted that any of them would make good on their promise. Nothing dissolved a friendship quite like the harsh reality of the real world. The thought of returning home caused Bucky's stomach to sink straight to his feet.

"Maybe I'll even invite Steve to join us," Tony continued conversationally. "He always looks good in a tight Christmas sweater."

"Ugh." Scott objected from across the room. "Being trapped in a room with Bucky and Steve doesn't sound like much of a holiday to me. It's bad enough being trapped in a cabin with Bucky and that damned sketchbook."

"Shut up. He's probably got someone else by now." Bucky grumbled, throwing a balled up towel in Scott's direction. Scott jumped out of the way and cast Bucky a triumphant smirk.

"Nah, he doesn't. He still sends me letters asking for updates on you." Tony remarked.

"Are we talking about Steve again?" Alex poked his head in the doorway of the cabin. "I feel like this cabin is a Steve fan club. There are other things to talk about, you know."

"Hm. Sounds fascinating. Maybe you could teach me the art of conversation over dinner tonight." Tony suggested.

Alex rolled his eyes. "No."

"Fuck, Pierce." Tony stomped his foot and scowled. "Why won't you go out with me?"

Alex shrugged. "Pick a reason."

"I'm too handsome." Tony decided.

"That's it." Alex agreed with a laugh. "You're too handsome."

"You guys, I think my ear is acting up again," Clint said, his voice coming out much too loud. The volume of his voice always increased when the capability of his left ear decreased. "I think Alex just called Tony handsome."

Tony glowered at Clint. "Fuck you."

"And now he's saying that he wants to fuck me." Clint yelled.

"You all better be behaving in there!" Sam yelled from his room.

"We're not." Bruce assured Sam with a small grin.

"One hour, guys. That is all I am asking for. _One hour_ until I am relieved of you for an entire year." Sam groaned.

"You're not coming to our Christmas reunion, Sam?" Tony didn't seem bothered.

"Christmas reunion? Why wasn't I invited?" Alex looked around expectantly.

"Because you don't love me." Tony pouted.

Bucky rolled his eyes. "You can come, Alex. It'll be at Tony's place, though, so your clothes might disappear and you might have to share a bed with Tony."

"I'm not going to make him share my bed." Tony scoffed. "He can sleep on the floor."

"What? Why the floor? Your house has dozens of rooms!"

"You don't love me, you sleep on the floor."

"None of _them_ love you!" Alex protested, gesturing around the cabin.

"Sure they do." Tony protested.

"Bucky," Alex turned to Bucky for support. "Do you love him?"

Bucky grinned and shrugged. "If it means getting a bed, sure. I'd love Sam if I had to."

"I heard that!" Sam yelled. "You'd be lucky to find someone like me, Barnes!"

"Is that an invitation, Sam?" Bucky called back.

"Bruce?" Alex turned to look at Bruce imploringly.

Bruce shook his head and looked down at his watch. "Oh, look at the time. We had better start loading up the buses."

* * *

"Class dismissed."

Steve let out a sigh and gathered his belongings. His ink-covered hands left dark prints and smudges all over his notebooks. He couldn't be bothered to worry about them as he tossed everything in his bookbag, slung it over his shoulder, and made his way towards the exit.

"Hey, Steve!" A girl in his class - Wanda - called out. Steve turned around and afforded her a patient smile.

"What's up?"

"Have you started the model project?"

"Nah," Steve scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I haven't gotten around to finding a model. My muse is...ah...gone...so I'm having a bit of trouble."

"Oh," Wanda smiled sympathetically. "Well, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about. My brother refuses to be a model for any more of my classes, and my boyfriend goes to a different school. I was wondering if you might want to be partners. I've seen some of your drawings; you're very talented."

"Thanks." Steve smiled awkwardly. "Being partners sounds good. Do you want to meet after class next week?"

Wanda nodded. "Okay."

"Cool. So, hey. You wouldn't want to grab a cup of coffee, would you? I know that you said you had a boyfriend, I just...I could really use some friends in class."

"I know." Wanda agreed with a smile.

"You know?" Steve asked, his voice laced with amusement. They began walking in the direction of a nearby coffee shop, one that Steve frequented by himself.

"Sure. You're in almost all of my classes and you never talk to anybody. I never see you at parties, and every time I see you around campus, you're alone. Your life seems to be a lonely one."

"I thought I was doing such a good job of hiding it." Steve sighed sheepishly.

"I'm sorry." Wanda said kindly.

"Nah, don't be." Steve waved off her apology. "It is a lonely life. I don't really like the parties around here, and the people...they're not really my type."

"But you think that I am?" Wanda challenged as they reached the coffee shop.

Steve sized her up. "I don't know yet."

"And what if I'm not?" Wanda asked, quirking an eyebrow and grinning.

"Then I'm just as lonely as I was an hour ago." Steve shrugged, opening the door for Wanda. "I've got nothing to lose."

"What if I have something to lose?" Wanda teased.

"What've you got to lose?" Steve asked.

"A model." Wanda replied, approaching the counter.

They ordered their drinks before taking a seat near the window. It was a seat that Steve frequently occupied when he spent long evenings at the shop, trying to convince himself not to write to Bucky. He wanted to remember Bucky the way that he left him; reaching out would just tarnish that memory.

"So, who's the girl?"

"What?" Steve looked up from his coffee in surprise.

Wanda laughed. "The girl, Steve. People don't usually skulk around and isolate themselves from everyone else unless they've been hurt by somebody else. I'm assuming that it was a girlfriend that's done this to you."

"There was no girl." Steve answered smugly.

"Really? So you just wander around by yourself for the fun of it?"

Steve felt his cheeks turn red as his smile turned sheepish. "There was a guy."

"A-ha." Wanda smirked, taking a sip of her hot chocolate. "And he was your muse."

"I must've drawn him two-hundred times."

"Been there."

"But he's gone now."

"Where did he go?"

"Nowhere," Steve replied, taking a sip of coffee. "He stayed exactly where he was. I was the one who left. I...kind of ran away."

"Commitment issues?"

Steve arched an eyebrow. "We just met twenty minutes ago and you're already trying to figure me out?"

"I like knowing how the mind works."

"Hm. Don't we all." Steve murmured. "Anyway, I don't have commitment issues; we'd already broken up by the time I left. He was a camper at this summer camp I was working at and things just got really awkward. Seeing him every day was like…"

"Living out one of those awful movies where you see what everyone's life would be like without you?"

"Exactly."

"Do you ever talk to him?"

"No."

"Do you ever think about it?"

"Every second of the day."

* * *

"What's the first thing that you're going to do when you get home? I'm going to order three pizzas, put on Netflix, and stay in bed until school starts." Alex sighed as he and Bucky sat on the bus headed for Brooklyn. The rest of Bucky's friends had taken buses (or in Tony's case, a private car) elsewhere, promising to keep in touch once they reached home.

"Oh, I don't know...maybe look for apartments willing to lease to a seventeen year-old?" Bucky remarked thoughtfully. "After staying here, I don't think that I can go back to a life with my parents. I'm too used to talking about my love life like it's a normal thing."

"It is normal." Alex objected.

Bucky grinned. "Even if being gay was considered normal, my love life still wouldn't be."

Alex nodded. "That's fair."

"Speaking of," Bucky was eager to get off of the subject. It was still awkward for him to talk about love around Alex. "Why do you keep turning Tony down? He's - well, don't tell him that I said this, but he isn't terrible looking - and he's rich as hell. He could take you to a different country for your first date."

"Bucky Barnes, do you really think that my love can be bought?" Alex pretended to be scandalized. "I am not a golddigger, I'll have you know."

"Hey, take advantage of the situation, man. No one would blame you; least of all, Tony."

"Nah. It's not worth it."

"You can't put up with Tony for two hours in exchange for all of that money?"

"Could you?"

"I see your point."

The boys both chuckled for a moment before focusing on the cars passing by the bus. Neither of them wanted to accept the fact that they were going back to a world that was not quite ready to accept them.

* * *

 **Ah! Don't kill me, but it's _still_ not over. One more chapter - that's all I'm asking you to hang in there for. It's already written and everything. I'll probably post it tomorrow, so long as school doesn't keep me running around like a chicken with its head cut off. At any rate, things are looking up, aren't they? Steve is still thinking about Bucky, Bucky is still thinking about Steve, Tony has actually made _friends_...it is a thing that dreams are made of.**

 **Okay, I'll admit it, I'm making everyone be friends with Tony because I'm in denial about the Civil War trailer. Sue me. Everyone needs to get along for my well-being.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Day Ninety-Two**

"Yes, Tony, I got your postcard. You're lucky that I got the mail before my mom did. They would've sent me to shock therapy." Bucky grumbled into his cell phone as he walked through the crowded Brooklyn streets. It was the fourth time that Tony had called him. That day.

"Bullshit," Tony drawled from across the line.

"Yeah, not so much. The only reason they've left me alone so far is because they think that I got 'cured' at camp."

"Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" Tony chuckled.

"Yeah, well, don't do anything to ruin that for me. It's the only reason they're letting me out of the house anymore. I don't think I could take another night of listening to my mom read out passages of the Bible while my dad asks for the names of the people that made me the way I am."

"Ouch," Even when he was sympathetic, Tony couldn't help but sound full of laughter. "That's rough, man. I did tell you, though: you've always got a room at the Stark Tower if you need it."

"I might have to take you up on that offer, eventually. I turn eighteen in March. Think you can find someone else to play with until then?"

"Of course I can." Tony sounded insulted. "I wasn't inviting you because I wanted to see you. I was just doing it because I felt bad for you."

"Right." Bucky laughed. "Because you've got so many friends."

"Look who's talking."

"Hey, I have friends."

"No, you have a swarm of guys trying to fuck you. That's not friendship, Bucky."

"What about you?"

"Who says I'm not trying?"

"Gross."

"You wound me."

"Alright, well, what about the rest of the guys in the cabin?"

"Do you consider any of them friends?"

"Bruce…"

"Bruce is off working in a lab in Switzerland. He doesn't count."

"Clint."

"He would kill you if Natasha asked him to."

Bucky let out a frustrated noise. "Alright, so I have no friends."

"Ah well," Tony didn't seem bothered by it. "That's alright. Friends are useless."

"I wouldn't go that far."

"See, that's why we could never be friends. You're too optimistic. When you talk like that, you sound just like -"

"Steve."

"How did you know I was going to say that?"

"No, Tony, I - I have to go. Steve is here."

"Steve is there? What? No! Don't go! Put the phone on speaker! I want to hear everything. Can we facetime? Barnes, did you hang up on me? You better not -"

Bucky hung up the phone and slipped it in his pocket before Tony could ruin the moment more than he already had. Once his phone was securely away, Bucky allowed himself to look up again, into the crystal eyes that had first sent chills down his spine in the middle of a stuffy cabin in Maryland.

"Steve." He croaked. "I was just thinking about you."

* * *

It was Steve who had noticed Bucky first. That brunette head bobbing up and down as he navigated his way through the Brooklyn streets. Steve had burst out of his favorite coffee shop and chased through crowds trying to catch up with him. All the while, Bucky just walked on, chatting on his phone and acting as though he was the only one in the entire city.

"Bucky!" Steve called out, weaving in and out of crowds in an effort to catch Bucky's attention. Bucky did not so much as blink. He just continued to chatter away on his phone, grinning and shaking his head like he didn't have a single care in the world. Steve couldn't waste energy wondering who he was talking to.

"Bucky!" He persisted, darting out into the road in the hopes of separating himself from the crowd. Several car horns blared out objections as he ran through the streets, racing to catch up with Bucky. Bucky was now several feet away and was in serious danger of disappearing altogether. If Steve was hoping to take advantage of this chance encounter, he was going to have to start stepping up his pace.

"Get out of the road, asshole!" A cab driver yelled from behind Steve. Steve didn't pay him any mind. He just continued to sprint as quickly as he could in the direction of Bucky. He didn't even know what he would say if he caught up to Bucky. He just knew that he had to see him. He had to see those eyes of his light up just one last time.

" _Bucky_!" Steve had finally caught up and leapt in front of Bucky before he could slip away. Bucky stared at him in surprise.

"Steve."

Steve could hear someone on the other line of the phone shouting something unintelligible, but neither he nor Bucky paid it much attention. They both just stared at each other in complete shock. Steve was panting a bit, trying to cool down from the brisk jog he had just experienced. Bucky was just watching him, dumbfounded. It was very obvious that he had not been expecting to see Steve.

"No, Tony, I - I have to go. Steve is here." Bucky murmured, turning off his phone and slipped it into his pocket, lowering his eyes to the ground for a moment. He didn't seem to know what to make of Steve's presence. Steve shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably, wondering if he had made a mistake in chasing Bucky down.

Then suddenly, Bucky looked up again.

Their eyes locked.

A small smile crossed Bucky's face.

His eyes sparkled. They were even better than Steve had remembered them.

"Steve." He said again. His name sounded like an entire sermon when Bucky said it in that reverent tone of his. "I was just thinking about you."

Steve hadn't known that he could love Bucky any more, and yet…

"Me too."

"Really?" Bucky's smile grew just a little bit wider.

Steve smiled back. "Yeah, really."

Bucky beamed. His smile was just about as bright as a camera's flash. "Huh."

Steve was now certain that in all of his life, he had never been more in love.

"You wouldn't want to get a cup of coffee and catch up, would you?"

"Coffee." Bucky nodded, still smiling. "Yeah."

"Great." Steve grinned. "I know just the place."

"So...do you...I mean...how long are you...are you here for good?" Bucky asked as they walked through the streets. He was looking around at the crowds of people that they passed. Steve was looking at Bucky.

"I go to school nearby. Campus is only about a ten minute walk from here."

"Oh." Bucky nodded. "That's good."

"Is it?" Steve cast Bucky a sideways smile.

"Yeah. I mean, you said that you liked the city." Bucky answered with a shrug. It was obvious - even to Steve - that there was great effort behind his casual act. Steve was glad. "So how is school? Are you...seeing anybody?"

Steve's heart pounded against his chest. He had expected this to come up eventually, but not on their first day seeing each other after camp. He was not seeing anybody, of course, but Bucky very well could have been seeing someone. Bucky could have been taking pity on his soul and checking before he rubbed his new boyfriend right in Steve's face.

Still, Steve had learned that with Bucky - honesty was the best policy.

"No, not really." He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked around awkwardly. "I haven't really had time. You?"

"Nah," Bucky replied with a small smile. "Can't really have much of a love life when I'm still living under my parents' roof."

"It's still bad, huh?"

Bucky shrugged. "I'll survive."

"Well," Steve cleared his throat. "If you ever need to get away...my apartment isn't too far away. You could always hide out in my living room or something."

"Oh, thanks." Bucky looked just as embarrassed as Steve felt. "I might have to take you up on that offer. You wouldn't expect me to pay rent, would you?" A small, playful smile crossed Bucky's face. A faint sparkle appeared in his eyes. Steve's heart nearly melted.

"Rent? No. Although, I think I know a way that you could pay me back."

Bucky looked at Steve in surprise. "You do?"

Steve grinned.

"I've got this art project to do; I could really use a model."

* * *

 **It's done, it's done, it's done, _IT'S DONE_. Finally! The boys are back and you just know that they are going to be in love by the end of their cute lil' coffee date. I need to leave it at that before I wind up breaking them up again. **

**Also, now that this is off my plate, I have decided to procrastinate on my other writing projects even more than I already have by inviting you guys to request stuff from me. It is, after all, the season of giving. It's not like commissions, where I'm expecting something in return (though if you're so inclined to send me pictures of my fictional children, it would be pretty aces); I just like getting prompts from time to time. So, if you are dying to read about Avengers' Ugly Christmas Sweater Parties, Sherlock Holmes investigating a Santa Mafia, Jane Austen characters thrown into modern day universities, Jessica Jones receiving a puppy for Christmas, Gatsby Facebook stalking Daisy, a genderbent French Revolution...just chat me up! Let me know what kind of prompts have been haunting you these days.**

 **I hoped you enjoyed this undertaking just as much as I have! :)**


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